THE 


•MISSIONARY  ENTEEPEISE 


A    COLLECTION 


DISCOURSES 


CHRISTIAN    MISSIONS, 


BY    AMERICAN    AUTHORS. 


BDITKD  BT 

BARON     STOW, 

PASTOR  OF    BALDWIN    PLACE    CHUECH,   BOSTON. 


Of  TSM  ^■'^ 

BOSTON:  \f^^  ^  ^9 
GOULD,   KENDALL   AND   LINCOLN, 


59    WASHIH-QTON     STREET. 

1846. 


S7 


Entered  according  to  act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1846,  by 

Gould,  Kendall  and  Lincoln, 

In  tlie  Clerk's  office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  District  of  Massachusetts. 


Boston : 

Printed  by  8.  N.  Dickinson  &  Co. 

62  Washington  Street. 


x^ 


Uiri7BBS!¥r! 


PREFACE. 


The  preparation  of  this  volume  was  undertaken  at  tlie  sugges- 
tion of  others,  whose  opinions,  ever  entitled  to  respect,  seemed  to 
present  a  demand  for  service,  which  the  Editor  did  not  consider 
himself  as  at  liberty  to  disregard.  This  claim  he  was  the  more 
happy  to  honor,  as  it  afforded  an  opportunity,  through  the  medium 
of  secular  enterprise,  to  promote  an  interest  which  he  has  long 
regarded  as  of  primary  and  paramount  importance.  Whatever 
may  be  the  measure  of  profit  from  the  pecuniary  investment,  the 
hope  is  fondly  cherished,  both  by  the  Publishers  and  the  Editor, 
that  large  benefits,  of  a  much  higher  order,  will  accrue  to  that  noble 
Cause  which  it  is  especially  intended  to  advance. 

The  task  of  selection  has  been,  in  some  instances,  peculiarly 
difficult.  Several  discourses,  of  great  excellence,  have  been  omit- 
ted, which,  perhaps,  would  have  been  included,  had  not  circum- 
stances appeared  to  encourage  the  expectation,  that  a  second  series 
might  be  demanded.  Should  this  volume  be  favorably  received, 
another  may  succeed,  comprising  not  only  sermons,  but  a  rich 
variety  of  addresses,  essays,  and  eloquent  appeals,  all  pertaining  to 
the  same  great  subject  —  Christian  Missions.  Many  of  this  class  of 
productions  are  too  valuable  to  be  left  scattered  in  ephemeral  forms, 
and  should  be  gathered  up,  and  added  to  the  increasing  stock  of 
our  Missionary  literature,  and  thus  made  to  extend  and  perpetuate 
their  salutary  efficiency. 

Corrections  and  additions  have  been  made,  by  some  of  the 
authors,  with  special  reference  to  this  publication.  Marginal  notes 
and  references,  not  necessary  to  be  retained,  have  been  omitted  ; 
and,  in  a  few  instances,  the  text  has  been  slightly  abridged.     Two 


IV  PREFACE. 

of  the  sermons  are  original,  having  been  printed  from  the  authors' 
manuscripts.  Obligations  are  due  to  the  proprietors  of  Dr.  Mason's 
Works,  for  permission  to  transfer  into  this  compilation  the  valuable 
sermon,  entitled  "  Messiah's  Throne." 

The  reader  of  these  Discourses  will  perhaps  discover,  that  the 
authors  differ  in  their  exhibitions  of  statistical  facts.  These  appa- 
rent discrepancies  will  be  sufficiently  explained,  by  a  reference  to 
so  much  of  the  history  of  the  respective  productions,  as  may  be 
found  in  the  table  of  contents.  They  were  delivered,  not  only  by 
different  men,  but  also  at  different  periods,  and  before  the  public 
bodies  of  various  Christian  denominations  ;  and  therefore  must  be, 
in  some  respects,  modified  by  the  diversity  of  circumstances  in 
which  they  had  their  origin. 

One  fact,  it  is  confidently  believed,  will  fix  the  admiration  of 
every  candid  reader  ;  and  that  is,  the  extraordinary  harmony  of 
both  spirit  and  sentiment  which  appears  throughout  the  volume. 
Each  performer  executes  his  own  chosen  part  in  the  chorus,  thus 
avoiding  the  monotony  of  unison^  and  yet  the  nicest  ear  will 
seldom  detect  a  discordant  note. 

The  spirit  of  Missions  is  the  spirit  of  Concord.  The  key-note 
was  struck  on  the  plains  of  Bethlehem  ;  and  all  who  have  sympa- 
thy with  the  angelic  announcement,  dre  sure  to  think,  feel,  utter, 
and  act  in  concert,  both  with  the  heavenly  host,  and  with  one 
another. 

Bowdoin  Street^  May^  1846. 


CONTENTS. 


THE  MORAL  DIGNITY  OF  THE  MSSIONARY  ENTERPRISE. 
BY  REV.  FRANCIS  WAYLAND,  D.  D., 

President  op  Brown  University,  Providence,  R,  I, 
Delivered  before  the  Boston  Baptist  Foreign  Mission  Society,  October  26, 1823.    - 


n. 

ARGUMENTS  FOR  MISSIONS.       ' 
BY  REV.  EDWARD   D.  GRIFFIN,  D.   D., 
Late  President  of  Willums  College,  Willlimstown,  Mass. 
Delivered  before  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions,  at 
Middletown,  Conn.,  September  14, 1826, -       22 


HL 

THE  THEORY  OF  MISSIONS  TO  THE   HEATHEN. 

BY  REV.  RUFUS  ANDERSON,  D.  D., 

One  op  the  Secretaries  op  the  American  Board  op  Commissioners  for  Foreigii 

Missions. 
Delivered  in  Ware,  Mass.,  at  the  ordination  of  Mr.  Edward  Webb,  as  a  Missionary 
to  the  heathen,  October  23, 1845,  -        - 87 


CONTENTS. 


IV. 


JESUS  THE  GEEAT  MISSIONARY. 
BY  REV.  EDWARD  N.  KIRK, 
Pastor  op  the  Mount  Vernon  Church,  Boston. 
Delivered  in  Boston,  at  the  ordination  of  Mr.  Samuel  Wolcott,  as  a  Foreign  Mission- 
ary, Nov.  3, 1839.  -  56 


CHRIST,  A  HOME  MISSIONARY. 
BY  REV.  WILLIAM  R.  WILLIAMS,  D.  D., 
Pastor  op  Amity  Street  Baptist  Church,  New  York. 
Delivered  in  Philadelphia,  before  the  American  Baptist  Home  Mission  Society, 
June  7, 1836. 78 


VI. 


EFFICIENCY  OF  PRIMITIVE  MISSIONS. 

BY  REV.  BARON  STOW, 
Pastor  op  Baldwin  Place  Church,  Boston. 
Delivered  In  New  York,  before  the  General  Convention  of  the  Baptist  Denomina- 
tion in  the  United  States,  April  26, 1838.       


VII. 

RESOURCES   OF   THE  ADVERSARY,   AND   MEANS   OF   THEIR 
DESTRUCTION. 

BY  REV.  LYMAN  BEECHER,  D.  D., 
President  of  Lane  Seminary,  Cxncinnati,  Ohio. 
Delivered  in  New  York,  before  the  American  Board  of  Commlssionerfl  for  Foreign 
Missions,  October  12,  1827. 121 


CONTENTS.  VU 


vni. 


THE  EARTH  FILLED  WITH  THE  GLORY  OF  GOD. 
BY  KEY.  SAMUEL  MILLER,  D.  D., 

PKOrESSOR  IN  THE  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY,  PRINCETON,  N.  J. 

Delivered  in  Baltimore,  before  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign 
Missions,  September  9, 1835. 113 


IX. 


INCREASE   OF   FAITH  NECESSARY   TO   THE    SUCCESS   OF 
CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS. 

BY  KEY.  WILLIAM  R.  WILLIAMS,  D.  D., 

Pastor  op  Amity  Street  Baptist  Church,  New  York. 
Delivered  in  New  York,  at  the  Annual  Meeting  of  the  Board  of  Managers  of  the 
Baptist  General  Convention,  April  30, 1834. 164 


X. 


THE   CROSS. 
BY  KEY.  RICHARD  FULLER,  D.  D., 

Pastor  of  the  Baptist  Church,  Beaufort,  S.  C. 
Delivered  in  Baltimore,  before  the  General  Convention  of  the  Baptist  Denomina- 
tion in  the  United  States,  April  28, 1841. 187 


XI. 


THE  GOSPEL  ADAPTED   TO  THE  WANTS   OF  THE  WORCD. 
BY  REY.  NATHAN  S.  S.  BEMAN,  D.  D., 
Pastor  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church,  Troy,  N.  Y. 
Delivered  in  Providence,  R.  I.,  before  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for 
Foreign  Missions,  September  9, 1840. 208 


VUl  CONTENTS. 

XII. 

THE  MORAL  ELEVATION  OF  THE  CHURCH  ESSENTIAL  TO 
MISSIONARY   SUCCESS. 

BY  REV.  GEORGE  B.  IDE, 

Pastor  op  the  First  Baptist  Church,  Philadelphia. 
Delivered  in  Providence,  R.  I.,  at  the  Annual  Meeting  of  the  Board  of  Managers 
of  the  Baptist  General  Convention,  April  30, 1845.        -        -        -        -        -      225 

XHI. 

THE  BEARINGS   OF  MODERN  COMMERCE   ON  THE  PROGRESS 
OF  MODERN  MISSIONS. 

BY  REV.  JOHN  S.  STONE,  D.  D., 
Rector  of  Christ  Church,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 
Delivered  in  New  Haven,  Conn.,  before  the  Board  of  Missions  of  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  Church  m  the  United  States,  June  19, 1839.         -       -       -      '-      247 

XIV. 

MESSIAH'S   THRONE. 

BY  REV.  JOHN  M.  MASON,  D.  D., 

Late  Pastor  op  the  Cedar  Street  Church,  New  York. 

Delivered  in  London,  before  the  London  Missionary  Society,  May  13, 1802.         -      272 

XV. 

MISSIONARY  POWER. 
BY  REV.  BARON  STOW, 
Pastor  op  Baldwin  Place  Church,  Boston. 
Delivered  before  the  Society  for  Missionary  Inquiry,  in  the  Literary  and  Theolo- 
gical Institution,  Hamilton,  New  York,  August  17,  1842.      -        ...      289 


THE 

MISSIONARY  ENTERPRISE. 


THE  MORAL  DIGNITY  OP  THE  MISSIONARY 
ENTERPRISE. 

BY 

KEV.   FRANCIS    WAYLAND,   D.  D. 

The  field  is  the  -vvorld.— Matthew  13:  38. 

Philosophers  have  speculated  much  concerning  a  pro- 
cess of  sensation,  which  has  commonly  been  denominated  the 
emotion  of  sublimity.  Aware  that,  like  any  other  simple 
feeling,  it  must  be  incapable  of  definition,  they  have  seldom 
attempted  to  define  it ;  but,  content  with  remarking  the  occa- 
sions on  which  it  is  excited,  have  told  us  that  it  arises  in 
general  from  the  contemplation  of  whatever  is  vast  in  nature, 
splendid  in  intellect,  or  lofty  in  morals.  Or,  to  express  the 
same  idea  somewhat  varied,  in  the  language  of  a  critic  of 
antiquity,*  "  that  alone  is  truly  sublime,  of  which  the  con- 
ception is  vast,  the  effect  irresistible,  and  the  remembrance 
scarcely  if  ever  to  be  erased." 

But  although  philosophers  alone  have  written  about  this 
emotion,  they  are  far  from  being  the  only  men  who  have  felt 
it.  The  untutored  peasant,  when  he  has  seen  the  autumnal 
tempest  collecting  between  the  hills,  and,  as  it  advanced, 
enveloping  in  misty  obscurity,  village  and  hamlet,  forest  and 
meadow,  has  tasted  the  sublime  in  all  its  reality ;  and,  whilst 
the  thunder  has  rolled  and  the  lightning  flashed  around  him, 
has  exulted  in  the  view  of  nature  moving  forth  in  her  maj- 
esty.    The  untaught  sailor-boy,  listlessly  hearkening  to  the 

*  Longinus,  Sect.  vii. 
1 


2  THE    MOKAL    DIGNITY    OF 

idle  ripple  of  the  midnight  wave,  when  on  a  sudden  he  has 
thought  upon  the  unfathomable  abyss  beneath  him,  and  the 
wide  waste  of  waters  around  him,  and  the  infinite  expanse 
above  him,  has  enjoyed  to  the  full  the  emotion  of  sublimity, 
whilst  his  inmost  soul  has  trembled  at  the  vastness  of  its  own 
conceptions.  But  why  need  I  multiply  illustrations  from 
nature?  Who  does  not  recollect  the  emotion  he  has  felt 
whilst  surveying  aught  in  the  material  world  of  terror  or  of 
vastness  ? 

And  this  sensation  is  not  produced  by  grandeur  in  material 
objects  alone.  It  is  also  excited  on  most  of  those  occasions 
in  which  we  see  man  tasking  to  the  uttermost  the  energies  of 
his  intellectual  or  moral  nature.  Through  the  long  lapse  of 
centuries,  who  without  emotion  has  read  of  Leonidas  and  his 
three  hundred  throwing  themselves  as  a  barrier  before  the 
myriads  of  Xerxes,  and  contending  unto  death  for  the  liberties 
of  Greece ! 

But  we  need  not  turn  to  classic  story  to  find  all  that  is 
great  in  human  action ;  we  find  it  in  our  own  times  and  in  the 
history  of  our  own  country.  Who  is  there  of  us  that  even  in 
the  nursery  has  not  felt  his  spirit  stir  within  him,  when  with 
childlike  wonder  he  has  listened  to  the  story  of  Washington  ? 
And  although  the  terms  of  the  narrative  were  scarcely  intel- 
ligible, yet  the  young  soul  kindled  at  the  thought  of  one  man's 
working  out  the  deliverance  of  a  nation.  And  as  our  under- 
standing, strengthened  by  age,  was  at  last  able  to  grasp  the 
detail  of  this  transaction,  we  saw  that  our  infantile  concep- 
tions had  fallen  far  short  of  its  grandeur.  Oh !  if  an  Amer- 
ican citizen  ever  exults  in  the  contemplation  of  all  that  is 
sublime  in  human  enterprise,  it  is  when,  bringing  to  mind  the 
men  who  first  conceived  the  idea  of  this  nation's  independence, 
he  beholds  them  estimating  the  power  of  her  oppressor,  the 
resources  of  her  citizens,  deciding  in  their  collected  might 
that  this  nation  should  be  free,  and  through  the  long  years  of 
trial  that  ensued,  never  blenching  from  their  purpose,  but 
freely  redeeming  the  pledge  they  had  given,  to  consecrate  to 
it,  "  their  lives,  their  fortunes,  and  their  sacred  honor." 

"  Patriots  have  toiled,  and  in  their  country's  cause 
Bled  nobly,  and  their  deeds,  as  they  deserve. 
Receive  proud  recompense.    We  give  in  charge 
Their  names  to  the  sweet  lyre.    The  historic  muse, 
Proud  of  her  treasure,  marches  with  it  down 
To  latest  times ;  and  sculpture  in  her  turn 
Gives  bond,  in  stone  and  ever-during  brass, 
To  guard  them  and  immortalize  her  trust." 


THE    MISSIONARY   ENTERPRISE.  3 

It  is  not  in  the  field  of  patriotism  alone  that  deeds  have 
been  achieved  to  which  history  has  awarded  the  palm  of 
moral  sublimity.  There  have  lived  men,  in  whom  the  name 
of  patriot  has  been  merged  in  that  of  philanthropist ;  who, 
looking  with  an  eye  of  compassion  over  the  face  of  the  earth, 
have  felt  for  the  miseries  of  our  race,  and  have  put  forth  their 
calm  might  to  wipe  off  one  blot  from  the  marred  and  stained 
escutcheon  of  human  nature,  to  strike  off  one  form  of  suffering 
from  the  catalogue  of  human  wo.  Such  a  man  was  Howard. 
Surveying  our  world  like  a  spirit  of  the  blessed,  he  beheld 
the  misery  of  the  captive,  he  heard  the  groaning  of  the  pris- 
oner. His  determination  was  fixed.  He  resolved  single- 
handed  to  gauge  and  to  measure  one  form  of  unpitied, 
unheeded  wretchedness,  and,  bringing  it  out  to  the  sunshine 
of  public  observation,  to  work  its  utter  extermination.  And 
he  well  knew  what  this  undertaking  would  cost  him.  He 
knew  what  he  had  to  hazard  from  the  infection  of  dungeons, 
to  endure  from  the  fatigues  of  inhospitable  travel,  and  to 
brook  from  the  insolence  of  legalized  oppression.  He  knew 
that  he  was  devoting  himself  upon  the  altar  of  philanthropy, 
and  he  willingly  devoted  himself.  He  had  marked  out  his 
destiny,  and  he  hastened  forward  to  its  accomplishment,  with 
an  intensity  "  which  the  nature  of  the  human  mind  forbade  to 
be  more,  and  the  character  of  the  individual  forbade  to  be 
less."*  Thus  he  commenced  a  new  era  in  the  history  of 
benevolence.  And  hence  the  name  of  Howard  will  be  asso- 
ciated with  all  that  is  sublime  in  mercy,  until  the  final  con- 
summation of  all  things. 

Such  a  man  is  Clarkson,  who,  looking  abroad,  beheld  the 
sufferings  of  Africa,  and  looking  at  home,  saw  his  country 
stained  with  her  blood.  We  have  seen  him,  laying  aside  the 
vestments  of  the  priesthood,  consecrate  himself  to  the  holy 
purpose  of  rescuing  a  continent  from  rapine  and  murder,  and 
of  erasing  this  one  sin  from  the  book  of  his  nation's  iniquities. 
We  have  seen  him  and  his  fellow  philanthropists  for  twenty 
years  never  waver  from  their  purpose.  We  have  seen  them 
persevere  amidst  neglect  and  obloquy  and  contempt  and  per- 
secution, until  the  cry  of  the  oppressed  having  roused  the 
sensibilities  of  the  nation,  the  "  Island  Empress  "  rose  in  her 
might,  and  said  to  this  foul  traffic  in  human  flesh,  Thus  far 
shalt  thou  go,  and  no  farther. 

*  Foster's  Essay. 


4  THE   MORAL   DIGNITY   OF 

It  will  not  be  doubted  that  in  such  actions  as  these,  there 
is  much  which  may  truly  be  called  the  moral  sublime.  If, 
then,  we  should  attentively  consider  them,  we  might  perhaps 
ascertain  what  must  be  the  elements  of  that  enterprise,  which 
may  lay  claim  to  this  high  appellation.  It  cannot  be  ex- 
pected that  on  this  occasion  we  should  analyze  them  critical- 
ly. It  will,  however,  we  think,  be  found,  upon  examination, 
that  to  that  enterprise  alone  has  been  awarded  the  meed  of 
sublimity,  of  which  the  conception  was  vast,  the  execution 
arduous,  and  the  means  to  be  employed  simple  but  efficient. 
"Were  not  the  object  vast,  it  could  not  arrest  our  attention. 
Were  not  its  accomplishment  arduous,  none  of  the  nobler 
energies  of  man  being  tasked  in  its  execution,  we  should  see 
nothing  to  admire.  Were  not  the  means  to  that  accomplish- 
ment simple,  our  whole  conception  being  vagUe,  the  impres- 
sion would  be  feeble.  Were  they  not  efficient,  the  intensest 
exertion  could  only  terminate  in  failure  and  disgrace. 

And  here  we  may  remark,  that  wherever  these  elements 
have  combined  in  any  undertaking,  public  sentiment  has 
generally  united  in  pronouncing  it  sublime,  and  history  has 
recorded  its  achievements  among  the  noblest  proofs  of  the 
dignity  of  man.  Malice  may  for  a  while  have  frowned,  and 
interest  opposed;  men  who  could  neither  grasp  what  was 
vast,  nor  feel  what  was  morally  great,  may  have  ridiculed. 
Eut  all  this  has  soon  passed  away.  Human  nature  is  not  to 
be  changed  by  the  opposition  of  interest  or  the  laugh  of  folly. 
There  is  still  enough  of  dignity  in  man  to  respect  what  is 
great,  and  to  venerate  what  is  benevolent.  The  cause  of 
man  has  at  last  gained  the  suffrages  of  man.  It  has  ad- 
vanced steadily  onward,  and  left  ridicule  to  wonder  at  the 
impotence  of  its  shaft,  and  malice  to  weep  over  the  in  efficacy 
of  its  hate. 

And  we  bless  God  that  it  is  so.  It  is  cheering  to  observe, 
that  amidst  so  much  that  is  debasing,  there  is  still  something 
that  is  ennobling  in  the  character  of  man.  It  is  delightful  to 
know  that  there  are  times  when  his  morally  bedimmed  eye 
"  beams  keen  with  honor ; "  that  there  is  yet  a  redeeming 
spirit  within  him,  which  exults  in  enterprises  of  great  pith 
and  moment.  We  love  our  race  the  better  for  every  such 
fact  we  discover  concerning  it,  and  bow  with  more  reverence 
to  the  dignity  of  human  nature.  We  rejoice  that,  shattered 
as  has  been  the  edifice,  there  yet  may  be  discovered  now  and 
then  a  massive  pillar,  and  here  and  there  a  well  turned  arch, 


THE    MISSIONARY   ENTERPRISE.  O 

which  remind  us  of  the  symmetry  of  its  former  proportions, 
and  the  perfection  of  its  original  structure. 

Having  paid  this  our  honest  tribute  to  the  dignity  of  man, 
we  must  pause,  and  shed  a  tear  over  somewhat  which  reminds 
us  of  any  thing  other  than  his  dignity.  Whilst  the  general 
assertion  is  true,  that  he  is  awake  to  all  that  is  sublime  in 
nature,  and  much  that  is  sublime  in  morals,  there  is  reason 
to  believe  that  there  is  a  single  class  of  objects,  whose  con- 
templation thrills  all  heaven  with  rapture,  at  which  he  can 
gaze  unmelted  and  unmoved.  The  pen  of  inspiration  has 
recorded,  that  the  cross  of  Christ,  whose  mysteries  the  angels 
desire  to  look  into,  was  to  the  tasteful  and  erudite  Greek, 
foolishness.  And  we  fear  that  cases  very  analogous  to  this 
may  be  witnessed  at  the  present  day.  But  why,  my  hearers, 
should  it  be  so  ?  ^Yhy  should  so  vast  a  dissimilarity  of  moral 
taste  exist  between  seraphs  who  bow  before  the  throne,  and 
men  who  dwell  upon  the  footstool  ?  Wliy  is  it  that  the  man, 
whose  soul  swells  with  ecstasy  whilst  viewing  the  innumera- 
ble suns  of  midnight,  feels  no  emotion  of  sublimity  when 
thinking  of  their  Creator  ?  Why  is  it  that  an  enterprise  of 
patriotism  presents  itself  to  his  imagination  beaming  with 
celestial  beauty,  whilst  the  enterprise  of  redeeming  love  is 
without  form  or  comeliness  ?  Why  should  the  noblest  un- 
dertaking of  mercy,  if  it  only  combine  among  its  essential 
elements  the  distinctive  principles  of  the  gospel,  become  at 
once  stale,  flat,  and  unprofitable  ?  When  there  is  joy  in 
heaven  over  one  sinner  that  repenteth,  why  is  it  that  the 
enterprise  of  proclaiming  peace  on  earth,  and  good  will  to 
man,  fraught,  as  it  would  seem,  with  more  than  angelic  be- 
nignity, should  to  many  of  our  fellow  men  appear  worthy  of 
nothing  better  than  neglect  or  obloquy  ? 

The  reason  for  all  this  we  shall  not  on  this  occasion  pre- 
tend to  assign.  We  have  only  time  to  express  our  regret 
that  such  should  be  the  fact.  Confining  ourselves  therefore 
to  the  bearing  which  this  moral  bias  has  upon  the  missionary 
cause,  it  is  with  pain  Ave  are  obliged  to  believe,  that  there  is 
a  large  and  most  respectable  portion  of  our  fellow  citizens, 
for  many  of  whom  we  entertain  every  sentiment  of  personal 
esteem,  and  to  whose  opinions  on  most  other  subjects  we  bow 
with  unfeigned  deference,  who  look  with  perfect  apathy  upon 
the  present  system  of  exertions  for  evangelizing  the  heathen  ; 
and  we  have  been  greatly  misinformed,  if  there  be  not 
another,  though  a  very  different  class,  who  consider  these 
1  * 


6  THE   MORAL    DIGNITY    OF 

exertions  a  subject  for  ridicule.  Perhaps  it  may  tend  some- 
what to  arouse  the  apathy  of  the  one  party,  as  well  as  to 
moderate  the  contempt  of  the  other,  if  we  can  show  that  this 
very  missionary  cause  combines  within  itself  the  elements  of 
all  that  is  sublime  in  human  purpose,  nay,  combines  them  in 
a  loftier  perfection  than  any  other  enterprise,  which  was  ever 
linked  with  the  destinies  of  man.  To  show  this  will  be  our 
design  ;  and  in  prosecuting  it,  we  shall  direct  your  attention 
to  the  grandeur  of  the  object ;  the  arduousness  of  its  execu- 
tion ;  and  the  nature  of  the  means  on  which  we  rely  for 
success. 

I.  The  grandeur  of  the  object.  In  the  most  en- 
larged sense  of  the  terms.  The  field  is  the  World,  Our  de- 
sign is  radically  to  affect  the  temporal  and  eternal  interests 
of  the  whole  race  of  man.  We  have  surveyed  this  field 
statistically  J  and  find,  that  of  the  eight  hundred  millions  who 
inhabit  our  globe,  but  two  hundred  millions  have  any  knowl- 
edge of  the  rehgion  of  Jesus  Christ.  Of  these  we  are  willing 
to  allow  that  but  one  half  are  his  real  disciples,  and  that  there- 
fore there  are  seven  of  the  eight  hundred  millions  to  whom  the 
gospel  must  be  sent. 

We  have  surveyed  this  field  geographically.  We  have 
looked  upon  our  own  continent,  and  have  seen  that,  with  the 
exception  of  a  narrow  strip  of  thinly  settled  country,  from  the 
Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence  to  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  the 
whole  of  this  new  world  lieth  in  wickedness.  Hordes  of 
ruthless  savages  roam  the  wilderness  of  the  -West,  and  men 
almost  as  ignorant  of  the  spirit  of  the  gospel,  are  struggling 
for  independence  in  the  South.  ^ 

We  have  looked  over  Europe,  and  beheld  there  one  nation 
putting  forth  her  energies  in  the  cause  of  evangelizing  the 
world.  We  have  looked  for  another  such  nation ;  but  it  is 
not  to  be  found.  A  few  others  are  beginning  to  awake.  Most 
of  them,  however,  yet  slumber.  Many  are  themselves  in 
need  of  missionaries.  Nay,  we  know  not  but  the  movement 
of  the  cause  of  man  in  Europe  is  at  present  retrograde. 
There  seems  too  evidently  a  coalition  formed  of  the  powers 
that  be,  to  check  the  progress  of  moral  and  intellectual  im- 
provement, and  to  rivet  again  on  the  human  mind  the  mana- 
cles of  papal  superstition.  God  only  knows  how  soon  the 
reaction  will  commence,  which  shall  shake  the  continent  to 
its  centre,  scatter  thrones  and  sceptres  and  all  the  insignia  of 
prescriptive  authority,  like  the  dust  of  the  summer  thresh- 


THE   MISSIONARY   ENTERPRISE.  7 

ing  floor,  and  establish  tkroughout  the  Christian  world  repre- 
sentative governments,  on  the  broad  basis  of  common  sense 
and  inalienable  right. 

We  have  looked  over  Africa,  and  have  seen  that  upon 
one  little  portion,  reclaimed  from  brutal  idolatry  by  missiona- 
ries, the  Sun  of  Righteousness  has  shined.  It  is  a  land  of 
Goshen,  where  they  have  light  in  their  dwellings.  Upon  all 
the  remainder  of  this  vast  continent,  there  broods  a  moral 
darkness,  impervious  as  that  which  once  veiled  her  own 
Egypt,  on  that  prolonged  and  fearful  night  when  no  man 
knew  his  brother. 

We  have  looked  upon  Asia,  and  have  seen  its  northern 
nations,  though  under  the  government  of  a  Christian  prince, 
scarcely  nominally  Christian.  On  the  West,  it  is  spell-bound 
by  Mohanunedan  delusion.  To  the  south,  from  the  Persian 
gulf,  to  the  sea  of  Kamtschatka,  including  also  its  numberless 
islands,  except  where  here  and  there  a  Syrian  church,  or  a 
missionary  station  twinkles  amidst  the  gloom  ;  the  whole  of 
this  immense  portion  of  the  human  race  is  sitting  in  the 
region  and  shadow  of  death.  Such  then  is  the  field  for  our 
exertion.  It  encircles  the  whole  family  of  man,  it  includes 
every  unevangelized  being  of  the  species  to  which  we  belong. 
We  have  thus  surveyed  the  missionary  field,  that  we  may 
know  how  great  is  the  undertaking  to  which  we  stand  com- 
mitted. 

We  have  also  made  an  estimate  of  the  miseries  of  this 
world.  We  have  seen  how  in  many  places  the  human  mind, 
shackled  by  ignorance  and  enfeebled  by  vice,  has  dwindled 
almost  to  the  standard  of  a  brute.  Our  indignation  has  kin- 
dled at  hearing  of  men  immortal  as  ourselves,  bowing  down 
and  worshipping  a  wandering  beggar,  or  paying  adoration  to 
reptiles  and  to  stones. 

Not  only  is  intellect,  everywhere  under  the  dominion  of 
idolatry,  prostrated ;  beyond  the  boundaries  of  Christendom, 
on  every  side  the  dark  places  of  the  earth  are  filled  with  the 
habitations  of  cruelty.  We  have  mourned  over  the  savage 
ferocity  of  the  Indians  of  our  western  wilderness.  We  have 
turned  to  Africa,  and  seen  almost  the  whole  continent  a  prey 
to  lawless  banditti,  or  else  bowing  down  in  the  most  revolting 
idolatry.  We  have  descended  along  her  coast,  and  beheld 
villages  burnt  or  depopulated,  fields  laid  waste,  and  her 
people,  who  have  escaped  destruction,  naked  and  famishing, 
flee  to  their  forests  at  the  sight  of  a  stranger.     We  have 


8  THE   MORAL   DIGNITY   OF 

asked,  What  fearful  visitation  of  Heaven  has  laid  these  set- 
tlements in  ruins?  What  destroying  pestilence  has  swept 
over  this  land,  consigning  to  oblivion  almost  its  entire  popu- 
lation ?  What  mean  the  smoking  ruins  of  so  many  habita- 
tions ?  And  why  is  yon  fresh  sod  crimsoned  and  slippery 
with  the  traces  of  recent  murder  ?  We  have  been  pointed 
to  the  dark  slave-ship  hovering  over  her  coast,  and  have 
been  told  that  two  hundred  thousand  defenceless  beings  are 
annually  stolen  away,  to  be  murdered  on  their  passage,  or 
consigned  for  life  to  a  captivity  more  terrible  than  death ! 

We  have  turned  to  Asia,  and  beheld  how  the  demon  of  her 
idolatry  has  worse  than  debased,  has  brutalized  the  mind  of 
man.  Everywhere  his  despotism  has  been  grievous  ;  here, 
with  merciless  tyranny,  he  has  exulted  in  the  misery  of  his 
victims.  He  has  rent  from  the  human  heart  all  that  was 
endearing  in  the  charities  of  life.  He  has  taught  the  mother 
to  tear  away  the  infant  as  it  smiled  in  her  bosom,  and  cast  it, 
the  shrieking  prey,  to  contending  alligators.  He  has  taught 
the  son  to  light  the  funeral  pile,  and  to  witness,  unmoved,  the 
dying  agonies  of  his  widowed,  murdered  mother ! 

We  have  looked  upon  all  this ;  and  our  object  is,  to  purify 
the  whole  earth  from  these  abominations.  Our  object  will 
not  have  been  accomplished  till  the  tomahawk  shall  be  buried 
forever,  and  the  tree  of  peace  spread  its  broad  branches  from 
the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific ;  until  a  thousand  smiling  villages 
shall  be  reflected  from  the  waves  of  the  Missouri,  and  the 
distant  valleys  of  the  West  echo  with  the  song  of  the  reaper ; 
till  the  wilderness  and  the  solitary  place  shall  have  been  glad 
for  us,  and  the  desert  has  rejoiced  and  blossomed  as  the  rose. 

Our  labors  are  not  to  cease,  until  the  last  slave-ship  shall 
have  visited  the  coast  of  Africa,  and,  the  nations  of  Europe 
and  America  having  long  since  redressed  her  aggravated 
wrongs,  Ethiopia,  from  the  Mediterranean  to  the  Cape,  shall 
have  stretched  forth  her  hand  unto  God. 

How  changed  will  then  be  the  face  of  Asia !  Brahmins 
and  sooders  and  castes  and  shasters  will  have  passed  away, 
like  the  mist  which  rolls  up  the  mountain's  side  before  the 
rising  glories  of  a  summer  morning,  while  the  land  on  which 
it  rested,  shining  forth  in  all  its  loveliness,  shall,  from  its 
numberless  habitations,  send  forth  the  high  praises  of  God 
and  the  Lamb.  The  Hindoo  mother  will  gaze  upon  her 
infant  with  the  same  tenderness  which  throbs  in  the  breast  of 
any  one  of  you  who  now  hears  me,  and  the  Hindoo  son  will 


THE   MISSIONARY   ENTERPRISE.  \) 

pour  into  the  wounded  bosom  of  his  widowed  parent,  the  oil 
of  peace  and  consolation. 

In  a  word,  point  us  to  the  loveliest  village  that  smiles  upon 
a  Scottish  or  New  England  landscape,  and  compare  it  with 
the  filthiness  and  brutality  of  a  Caffrarian  kraal,  and  we  tell 
you  that  our  object  is  to  render  that  Caffrarian  kraal  as 
happy  and  gladsome  as  that  Scottish  or  New  England  village. 
Point  us  to  the  spot  on  the  face  of  the  earth  where  liberty  is 
best  understood  and  most  perfectly  enjoyed,  where  intel- 
lect shoots  forth  in  its  richest  luxuriance,  and  where  all  the 
kindlier  feelings  of  the  heart  are  constantly  seen  in  their 
most  graceful  exercise ;  point  us  to  the  loveliest  and  happiest 
neighborhood  in  the  world  on  which  we  dwell ;  and  we  tell 
you  that  our  object  is  to  render  this  whole  earth,  with  all  its 
nations  and  kindreds  and  tongues  and  people,  as  happy,  nay, 
happier  than  that  neighborhood.  ,_^ 

We  have  considered  these  beings  as  immortal,  and  candi^ 
dates  for  an  eternity  of  happiness  or  misery.     And  we  can-  ' 
not  avoid  the  belief  that  they  are  exposed  to  eternal  misery. 
Here  you  will  observe  the  question  with  us  is  not,  whether  a 
heathen,  unlearned  in  the  gospel,  can  be  saved.     We  are 
willing  to  admit  that  he  may.     But  if  he  be  saved,  he  must 
possess  holiness  of  heart ;  for  without  holiness  no  man  shall 
see   the   Lord.     And  where   shall   we  find  holy  heathen  ? 
Where  is  there  the  vestige  of  purity  of  heart  among  unevan-      j 
gelized  nations  ?     It  is  in  vain  to  talk  about  the  innocence  of     ' 
these  children  of  nature.     It  is  in  vain  to  tell  us  of  their 
graceful  mythology.     Their  gods  are  such  as  lust  makes  wel- 
come.    Of  their  very  religious  services,  it  is  a  shame  even 
to  speak.     To  settle  the  question  concerning  their  future  des- 
tiny, it  would  only  seem  necessary  to  ask.  What  would  be 
the  character  of  that  future  state,  in  which  those  principles  of 
heart  which  the  whole  history  of  the  heathen  world  develops, 
were  suffered  to  operate  in  their  unrestrained  malignity  ? 

No !  solemn  as  is  the  thought,  we  do  believe,  that  dying  in 
their  present  state,  they  will  be  exposed  to  all  that  is  awful 
in  the  wrath  of  Almighty  God.  J  And  we  do  believe  that 
God  so  loved  the  world,  that  he  gave  his  only  begotten  Son, 
that  whosoever  believeth  on  him  should  not  perish,  but  have  :j 
everlasting  life.  Our  object  is  to  convey  to  those  who  are 
perishing  the  news  of  this  salvation.  It  is  to  furnish  every 
family  upon  the  face  of  the  whole  earth  with  the  word  of 
God  written  in  its  own  language,  and  to  send  to  every  neigh- 


10  THK    MORAL    DIGNITY    OF 

borhood  a  preacher  of  the  cross  of  Christ.  Our  object  will 
not  be  accomplished  until  every  idol  temple  shall  have  been 
utterly  abolished,  and  a  temple  to  Jehovah  erected  in  its 
room ;  until  this  earth,  instead  of  being  a  theatre  on  which 
immortal  beings  are  preparing  by  crime  for  eternal  condem- 
C  nation,  shall  become  one  universal  temple,  in  which  the  chil- 

^T>  dren  of  men  are  learning  the  anthems  of  the  blessed  above, 
and  becoming  meet  to  join  the  general  assembly  and  church 
of  the  first-born,  whose  names  are  written  in  heaven^!  Our 
design  will  not  be  completed  until  -^ 

"  One  song  employs  all  nations,  and  all  cry 
Worthy  the  Lamb,  for  he  was  slain  for  us ; 
/        The  dwellers  in  the  vales,  and  on  the  rocks 
I         Shout  to  each  other,  and  the  mountain  tops 
From  distant  mountains  catch  the  flying  joy ; 
Till,  nation  after  nation  taught  the  strain, 
Earth  rolls  the  rapturous  hosanna  round." 

The  object  of  the  missionary  enterprise  embraces  every 
child  of  Adam.  It  is  vast  as  the  race  to  whom  its  operations 
are  of  necessity  limited.  It  would  confer  upon  every  indi- 
vidual on  earth,  all  that  intellectual  and  moral  cultivation 
can  bestow.  It  would  rescue  a  world  from  the  indignation 
and  wrath,  tribulation  and  anguish,  reserved  for  every  son  of 
man  that  doeth  evil,  and  give  it  a  title  to  glory,  honor,  and 
■^  immortahty.  You  see,  then,  that  our  object  is,  not  only  to 
affect  every  individual  of  the  species,  but  to  affect  him  in  the 
momentous  extremes  of  infinite  happiness  and  infinite  wo. 
And  now  we  ask.  What  object  ever  undertaken  by  man  can 
compare  with  this  same  design  of  evangelizing  the  w^orld  ? 
Patriotism  itself  fades  away  before  it,  and  acknowledges  the 
supremacy  of  an  enterprise,  which  seizes,  with  so  strong  a 
grasp,  upon  both  the  temporal  and  eternal  destinies  of  the 
whole  family  of  man. 

But  all  this  is  not  to  be  accomplished  without  laborious 
exertion.     Hence  we  remark, 

II.  The  missionary  undertaking  is  arduous  enough 

TO  CALL  INTO  ACTION  THE  NOBLEST  ENERGIES  OF  MAN. 

Its  arduousness  is  explained  in  one  word,  our  Field  is  the 
World,  Our  object  is  to  effect  an  entire  moral  revolution  in 
the  whole  human  race.  Its  arduousness  then  results  of 
necessity  from  its  magnitude. 

I  need  not  say  to  an  audience  acquainted  with  the  nature 
of  the  human  mind,  that  a  large  moral  mass  is  not  easily  and 


A 


THE   MISSIONARY   ENTERPRISE.  11 

permanently  affected.  A  little  leaven  does  not  soon  leaven 
the  whole  lump.  To  produce  a  change  even  of  speculative 
opinion  upon  a  single  nation,  is  an  undertaking  not  easily 
accomplished.  In  the  case  before  us,  not  a  nation,  but  a 
Avorld  is  to  be  regenerated :  therefore  the  change  which  we 
would  effect  is  far  from  being  merely  speculative.  If  any 
man  be  in  Christ,  he  is  a  new  creature.  Nothing  short  of 
this  new  creation  will  answer  our  purpose.  We  go  forth, 
not  to  persuade  men  to  turn  from  one  idol  to  another,  but  to 
turn  universally  from  idols  to  serve  the  living  God.  We 
call  upon  those  who  are  earthly,  sensual,  devilish,  to  set  their 
affections  on  things  above.  We  go  forth  exhorting  men  to 
forsake  every  cherished  lust,  and  present  themselves  a  living 
sacrifice,  holy  and  acceptable  unto  God.  And  this  mighty 
moral  revolution  is  to  be  effected,  not  in  a  family,  a  tribe,  or 
a  nation,  but  in  a  world  which  lieth  in  wickedness. 

We  have  to  operate  upon  a  race  divided  into  different  na- 
tions, speaking  a  thousand  different  languages,  under  every 
different  form  of  government  from  absolute  inertness  to  un- 
bridled tyranny,  and  inhabiting  every  district  of  country, 
salubrious  or  deadly,  from  the  equator  to  the  poles.  To  all 
these  nations  must  the  gospel  be  sent,  into  all  these  languages 
must  the  Bible  be  translated,  to  all  these  climes,  salubrious  or 
deadly,  must  the  missionary  penetrate,  and  under  all  these 
forms  of  government,  mild  or  despotic,  must  he  preach  Christ 
and  him  crucified. 

Besides,  we  shall  frequently  interfere  with  the  more  sordid 
interests  of  men ;  and  we  expect  them  to  increase  the  diffi- 
culties of  our  undertaking.  If  we  can  turn  the  heathen  to 
God,  many  a  source  of  unholy  traffick  will  be  dried  up,  and 
many  a  convenience  of  unhallowed  gratification  taken  away. 
And  hence  we  may  expect  that  the  traffickers  in  human  flesh, 
the  disciples  of  mammon,  and  the  devotees  of  pleasure,  will 
be  against  us.  From  the  heathen  themselves  we  have  the 
blackest  darkness  of  ignorance  to  dispel.  We  have  to  assault 
systems  venerable  for  their  antiquity,  and  interwoven  with 
everything  that  is  proud  in  a  nation's  history.  Above  all, 
we  have  to  oppose  the  depravity  of  the  human  heart,  grown 
still  more  inveterate  by  ages  of  continuance  in  unrestrained 
iniquity.  In  a  word,  we  go  forth  to  urge  upon  a  world  dead 
in  trespasses  and  sins,  a  thorough  renewal  of  heart,  and  an 
universal  reformation  of  practice. 

Brief  as  is  this  view  of  the  difficulties  which  surround  us, 


12  THE   MORAL    DIGNITY    OF 

and  time  will  not  allow  us  to  state  them  more  in  detail,  you 
see  that  our  undertaking  is,  as  we  said,  arduous  enough  to 
task  to  the  uttermost  the  noblest  energies  of  man. 

Thia,  enterprise  requires  consummate  wisdom  in  the  mis- 
sionary who  goes  abroad,  as  well  as  in  those  who  manage  the 
concerns  of  a  society  at  home.  He  who  goes  forth  unpro- 
tected, to  preach  Christ  to  despotic  or  badly  governed  nations, 
must  be  wise  as  a  serpent,  and  harmless  as  a  dove.  With  un- 
deviating  firmness  upon  everything  essential,  he  must  com- 
bine the  most  yielding  facility  upon  all  that  is  unimportant. 
And  thus  while  he  goes  forth  in  the  spirit  and  power  of  Elias, 
he  must  at  the  same  time  become  all  things  to  all  men,  that 
by  all  means  he  may  gain  some.  Great  abilities  are  also 
required  in  him  who  conducts  the  mission  at  home.  He 
must  awaken,  animate,  and  direct  the  sentiments  of  a  very 
large  portion  of  the  community  in  which  he  resides,  whilst 
at  the  same  time,  through  a  hundred  different  agents,  he  is 
exerting  a  powerful  influence  upon  half  as  many  nations 
a  thousand  or  ten  thousand  miles  off.  Indeed  it  is  hazarding 
nothing  to  predict,  that  if  efforts  for  the  extension  of  the 
ggspel  continue  to  multiply  with  their  present  ratio  of  in- 
crease, as  great  abilities  will,  in  a  few  years,  be  required  for 
transacting  the  business  of  a  missionary  society,  as  for  con- 
ducting the  affairs  of  a  political  cabinet. 

The  missionary  undertaking  calls  for  perseverance  ;  a  per- 
severance of  that  character,  which,  having  once  formed  its 
purpose,  never  wavers  from  it  till  death.  And  if  ever  this 
attribute  has  been  so  exhibited  as  to  challenge  the  respect  of 
every  man  of  feeling,  it  has  been  in  such  instances  as  are 
recorded  in  the  history  of  the  missions  to  Greenland  and  to 
the  South  Sea  Islands,  where  we  beheld  men,  for  fifteen  or 
twenty  years,  suffer  everything  but  martyrdom,  and  then, 
seeing  no  fruit  from  their  labor,  resolve  to  labor  on  till  death, 
if  so  be  they  might  at  last  save  one  benighted  heathen  from 
the  error  of  his  ways. 

This  undertaking  calls  for  self-denial  of  the  highest  and 
holiest  character.  He  who  engages  in  it  must,  at  the  very 
outset,  dismiss  every  wish  to  stipulate  for  anything  but  the 
mere  favor  of  God.  His  first  act  is  a  voluntary  exile  from 
all  that  a  refined  education  loves  ;  and  every  other  act  must 
be  in  unison  with  this.  The  salvation  of  the  heathen  is  the 
object  for  which  he  sacrifices,  and  is  willing  to  sacrifice, 
every  thing  that  the  heart  clings  to  on  earth.   For  this  object 


THE   MISSIONARY   ENTERPRISE.  13 

lie  would  live  ;  for  this  he  would  die  ;  nay,  he  would  live  any 
where,  and  die  any  how,  if  so  be  he  might  rescue  one  soul 
from  everlasting  wo. 

Hence  you  see  that  this  undertaking  requires  courage.  It 
is  not  the  courage  which,  wrought  up  by  the  stimulus  of  pop- 
ular applause,  can  rush  now  and  then  upon  the  cannon's 
mouth ;  it  is  the  courage  which,  alone  and  unapplauded,  will, 
year  after  year,  look  death,  every  moment,  in  the  face,  and 
never  shrink  from  its  purpose.  It  is  a  principle  which  will 
^'  make  a  man  intrepidly  dare  every  thing  which  can  attack 
or  oppose  him  within  the  whole  sphere  of  mortality,  retain 
his  purpose  unshaken  amidst  the  ruins  of  the  world,  and 
press  toward  his  object  while  death  is  impending  over  him."  ^ 
Such  was  the  spirit  which  spake  by  the  mouth  of  an  Apostle 
when  he  said,  And  now  I  go  bound  in  the  spirit  unto  Jeru- 
salem, not  knowing  the  things  which  shall  befall  me  there ; 
save  that  the  Holy  Ghost  witnesseth  in  every  city,  saying 
that  bonds  and  afflictions  abide  me.  Yet  none  of  these  things 
move  me  ;  neither  count  I  my  life  dear  unto  myself,  so  that 
1  may  finish  my  course  with  joy,  and  the  ministry  which  I 
have  received  of  the  Lord  Jesus. 

But  above  all,  the  missionary  undertaking  requires  faith, 
in  its  holiest  and  sublimest  exercise.  And  let  it  not  be  sup- 
posed that  we  speak  at  random,  when  we  mention  the  sub- 
limity of  faith.  "Whatever,"  says  the  British  moralist, 
'-  withdraws  us  from  the  power  of  the  senses ;  whatever 
makes  the  past,  the  distant,  or  the  future  predominate  over 
the  present,  advances  us  in  the  dignity  of  thinking  beings."  f 
And  w^hen  we  speak  of  faith,  we  refer  to  a  principle  which 
gives  substance  to  things  hoped  for,  and  evidence  to  things 
not  seen ;  which,  bending  her  keen  glance  on  the  eternal 
weight  of  glory,  makes  it  a  constant  motive  to  holy  enter- 
prise ;  which,  fixing  her  eagle  eye  upon  the  infinite  of  future, 
makes  it  bear  right  well  upon  the  purposes  of  to-day ;  a 
principle  which  enables  a  poor  feeble  tenant  of  the  dust  to 
take  strong  hold  upon  the  perfections  of  Jehovah ;  and,  fas- 
tening his  hopes  to  the  very  throne  of  the  Eternal,  "bid 
earth  roll,  nor  feel  its  idle  whirl."  This  principle  is  the 
unfailing  support  of  the  missionary  through  the  long  years 
of  his  toilsome  pilgrimage ;  and,  when  he  is  compared  with 
the  heroes  of  this  world,  it  is  peculiar  to  him.     By  as  much 

*  Foster.  f  Tour  to  the  Hebrides,  lona. 


14  THE   MORAL   DIGNITY    OF 

then  as  the  Christian  enterprise  calls  into  being  this  one 
principle,  the  noblest  that  can  attach  to  the  character  of  a 
creature,  by  so  much  does  its  execution  surpass  in  sublimity 
every  other. 

III.  Let  us  consider  the  means  by  which  this  moral 
REVOLUTION  IS  TO  BE  EFFECTED.  It  is,  in  a  word,  by  the 
preaching  of  Jesus  Christ  and  him  crucified.  It  is  by  going 
forth  and  telling  the  lost  children  of  men,  that  God  so  loved 
the  world,  that  he  gave  his  only  begotten  Son  to  die  for 
them ;  and  by  all  the  eloquence  of  such  an  appeal  to  entreat 
them,  for  Christ's  sake,  to  be  reconciled  unto  God.  This  is 
the  lever  by  which,  we  believe,  the  moral  universe  is  to  be 
raised ;  this  is  the  instrument  by  which  a  sinful  world  is  to 
be  regenerated. 

And  consider  the  commanding  simplicity  of  this  means, 
devised  by  Omniscience  to  effect  a  purpose  so  glorious. 
This  world  is  to  be  restored  to  more  than  it  lost  by  the  fall, 
by  the  simple  annunciation  of  the  love  of  God  in  Christ 
Jesus.  Here  we  behold  means  apparently  the  weakest, 
employed  to  effect  the  most  magnificent  of  purposes.  And 
how  plainly  does  this  bespeak  the  agency  of  the  omnipotent 
God !  The  means  which  effect  his  greatest  purposes  in  the 
kingdom  of  nature,  are  simple  and  unostentatious;  while 
those  which  man  employs  are  coniplicated  and  tumultuous. 
How  many  intellects  are  tasked,  how  many  hands  are 
wearied,  how  many  arts  exhausted  "in  preparing  for  the  event 
of  a  single  battle ;  and  how  great  is  the  tumult  of  the  mo- 
ment of  decision !  In  all  this,  man  only  imitates  the  inferior 
agents  of  nature.  The  autumnal  tempest,  whose  sphere  of 
action  is  limited  to  a  little  spot  upon  our  little  world,  comes 
forth  attended  by  the  roar  of  thunder  and  the  flash  of  light- 
ning; while  the  attraction  of  gravitation,  that  stupendous 
force  which  binds  together  the  mighty  masses  of  the  material 
universe,  acts  silently.  In  the  sublimest  of  natural  transac- 
tions, the  greatest  result  is  ascribed  to  the  simplest,  the  most 
unique  of  causes.  He  spake  and  it  was  done ;  he  command- 
ed and  it  stood  fast. 

Contemplate  the  benevolence  of  these  means.  In  practice, 
the  precepts  of  the  gospel  may  be  summed  up  in  the  single 
command.  Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy 
heart,  and  thy  neighbor  as  thyself.  We  expect  to  teach  one 
man  obedience  to  this  command,  and  that  he  will  feel  obliged 
to  teach  his  neighbor,  who  will  feel  obliged  to  teach  others, 


THE   MISSIONARY   ENTERPRISE.  15 

who  are  again  to  become  teachers,  until  the  whole  world 
shall  be  peopled  with  one  family  of  brethren.  Animosity  is 
to  be  done  away  by  inculcating  universally  the  obligation 
of  love.  In  this  manner  we  expect  to  teach  rulers  justice, 
and  subjects  submission ;  to  open  the  heart  of  the  miser,  and 
unloose  the  grasp  of  the  oppressor.  It  is  thus  we  expect  the 
time  to  be  hastened  onward  when  men  shall  beat  their 
swords  into  ploughshares,  and  their  spears  into  pruning-hooks  ; 
when  nations  shall  no  more  lift  up  sword  against  nation, 
neither  shall  they  learn  war  any  more. 

With  this  process,  compare  the  means  by  which  men,  on 
the  principles  of  this  world,  effect  a  melioration  in  the  con- 
dition of  their  species.  Their  almost  universal  agent  is, 
threatened  or  inflicted  misery.  And,  from  the  nature  of  the 
case,  it  cannot  be  otherwise.  Without  altering  the  disposi- 
tion of  the  heart,  they  only  attempt  to  control  its  exercise. 
And  they  must  control  it  by  showing  their  power  to  make 
the  indulgence  of  that  disposition  the  source  of  more  misery 
than  happiness.  Hence  when  men  confer  a  benefit  upon  a 
portion  of  their  brethren,  it  is  generally  preceded  by  a  pro- 
tracted struggle  to  decide  which  can  inflict  most,  or  which 
can  suffer  longest.  Hence  the  arm  of  the  patriot  is  gen- 
erally and  of  necessity  bathed  in  blood.  Hence  with  the 
shouts  of  victory  from  the  nation  he  has  delivered,  there 
arise  also  the  sigh  of  the  widow,  and  the  weeping  of  the 
orphan.  Man  produces  good  by  the  apprehension  or  the 
infliction  of  evil.  The  gospel  produces  good  by  the  universal 
diffusion  of  the  principles  of  benevolence.  In  the  former 
case,  one  party  must  generally  suffer;  in  the  latter,  all 
parties  are  certainly  more  happy.  The  one,  like  the 
mountain  torrent,  may  fertilize  now  and  then  a  valley  be- 
neath, but  not  until  it  has  wildly  swept  away  the  forest 
above,  and  disfigured  the  lovely  landscape  with  many  an 
unseemly  scar.     Not  so  the  other ; 

"It  droppeth  as  the  gentle  dew  from  heaven 
Upon  the  place  beneath ;  it  is  twice  blessed  ; 
It  blesseth  hina  that  gives,  and  him  that  takes." 

Consider  the  efficacy  of  these  means.  The  reasons  which 
teach  us  to  rely  upon  them  with  confidence  may  be  thus 
briefly  stated. 

1.  We  see  that  all  which  is  really  terrific  in  the  misery  of 
man  results  from  the  disease  of  his  moral  nature.     If  this  can 


16  THE   MORAL    DIGNITY    OF 

be  healed,  man  may  be  restored  to  happiness.  Now  the 
gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  is  the  remedy  devised  by  Omniscience 
specifically  for  this  purpose,  and  therefore  we  do  certainly 
know  that  it  will  inevitably  succeed. 

2.  It  is  easy  to  be  seen,  that  universal  obedience  to  the 
command,  Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy 
heart,  and  thy  neighbor  as  thyself,  would  make  this  world  a 
heaven.  But  nothing  other  than  the  gospel  of  Christ  can 
persuade  men  to  this  obedience.  Reason  cannot  do  it ;  phi- 
losophy cannot  do  it ;  civilization  cannot  do  it.  The  cross  of 
Christ  alone  has  power  to  bend  the  stubborn  will  to  obedi- 
ence, and  melt  the  frozen  heart  to  love.  For,  said  one  who 
had  experienced  its  efficacy,  the  love  of  Christ  constraineth 
us,  because  we  thus  judge,  that  if  one  died  for  all,  then  were 
all  dead ;  and  that  he  died  for  all,  that  they  which  live 
should  not  live  to  themselves,  but  unto  Him  who  died  for 
them,  and  rose  again. 

3.  The  preaching  of  the  cross  of  Christ  is  a  remedy  for  the 
miseries  of  the  fall  which  has  been  tested  by  the  experience 
of  eighteen  hundred  years,  and  has  never  in  a  single  instance 
failed.  Its  efficacy  has  been  proved  by  human  beings  of  all 
ages,  from  the  lisping  infant  to  the  sinner  an  hundred  years 
old.  All  climates  have  witnessed  its  power.  From  the  ice- 
bound cliffs  of  Greenland  to  the  banks  of  the  voluptuous 

•  Ganges,  the  simple  story  of  Christ  crucified  has  turned  men 
from  darkness  to  light,  and  from  the  power  of  Satan  unto 
God.  Its  effect  has  been  the  same  with  men  of  the  most 
dissimilar  conditions  ;  from  the  abandoned  inhabitant  of  New- 
gate, to  the  dweller  in  the  palaces  of  kings.  It  has  been 
equally  sovereign  amidst  the  scattered  inhabitants  of  the  forest 
and  the  crowded  population  of  the  densest  metropolis.  Every 
where  and  at  all  times  it  has  been  the  power  of  God  unto 
salvation  to  every  one  that  believeth. 

4.  And  lastly,  we  know  from  the  word  of  the  living  God, 
that  it  will  be  successful,  until  this  whole  world  has  been  re- 
deemed from  the  effects  of  man's  first  disobedience.  As 
truly  as  I  live,  saith  Jehovah,  all  the  earth  shall  be  filled  with 

rthe  glory  of  the  Lord.  Ask  of  me,  saith  he  to  his  Son,  and  I 
will  give  thee  the  heathen  for  thine  inheritance,  and  the 
uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  for  thy  possession.  In  the 
Revelation  which  he  gave  to  his  servant  John  of  things 
which  should  shortly  come  to  pass ;  I  heard,  said  the  Apostle, 
great  voices  in  heaven,  saying,  The  kingdoms  of  this  world 


THE    MISSIONARY   ENTERPRISE.  17 

are  become  the  kingdoms  of  our  Lord,  and  of  his  Christ,  and 
he  shall  reign  forever  and  ever.  Here  then  is  the  ground  of 
our  unwavering  confidence.  Heaven  and  earth  shall  pass 
awaj,  but  one  jot  or  one  tittle  shall  in  no  wise  pass  from  the 
word  of  Grod,  until  all  be  fulfilled.  Such,  then,  are  the 
means  on  which  we  rely  for  the  accomplishment  of  our 
object,  and  such  the  grounds  upon  which  we  rest  our 
confidence  of  success. 

And  now,  my  hearers,  deliberately  consider  the  nature  of 
the  missionary  enterprise.  Reflect  upon  the  dignity  of  its 
object ;  the  high  moral  and  intellectual  powers  which  are  to 
be  called  forth  in  its  execution ;  the  simplicity,  benevolence, 
and  efficacy  of  the  means  by  which  all  this  is  to  be  achieved ; 
and  we  ask  you.  Does  not  every  other  enterprise  to  which 
man  ever  put  forth  his  strength  dwindle  into  insignificance, 
before  that  of  preaching  Christ  crucified  to  a  lost  and  perish- 
ing world  ? 

Engaged  in  such  an  object,  and  supported  by  such  assur- 
ances, you  may  readily  suppose,  we  can  very  well  bear  the 
contempt  of  those  who  would  point  at  us  the  finger  of  scorn. 
It  is  written.  In  the  last  days  there  shall  be  scoffers.  We 
regret  that  it  should  be  so.  We  regret  that  men  should 
oppose  an  enterprise,  of  which  the  chief  object  is,  to  turn  sin- 
ners unto  holiness.  We  pity  them,  and  we  will  pray  for  them  ; 
for  we  consider  their  situation  far  other  than  enviable.  We 
recollect  that  it  was  once  said  by  the  Divine  Missionary,  to 
the  first  band  which  he  commissioned.  He  that  despiseth  you, 
despiseth  me,  and  he  that  despiseth  me,  despiseth  him  that 
sent  me.  So  that  this  very  contempt  may  at  last  involve 
them  in  a  controversy  infinitely  more  serious  than  they  at 
present  anticipate.  The  reviler  of  missions,  and  the  mission- 
ary of  the  cross,  must  both  stand  before  the  judgment-seat  of 
Him  who  said,  Go  ye  into  all  the  world,  and  preach  the  gos- 
pel to  every  creature.  It  is  affecting  to  think,  that  whilst  the 
one,  surrounded  by  the  nation,  who,  through  his  instrument- 
ality, have  been  rescued  from  everlasting  death,  shall  receive 
the  plaudit.  Well  done,  good  and  faithful  servant ;  the  other 
may  be  numbered  with  those  despisers  who  wonder  and  per- 
ish. O  that  they  might  know,  even  in  this  their  day,  the 
things  which  belong  to  their  peace,  before  they  are  hidden 
from  their  eyes ! 

You  can  also  easily  perceive  how  it  is  that  we  are  not  soon 
disheartened  by  those  who  tell  us  of  the  difficulties,  nay,  the 
2* 


18  THE   MORAL    DIGNITY    OF 

hopelessness,  of  our  undertaking.  They  may  point  us  to 
countries  once  the  seat  of  the  church,  now  overspread  with 
Mahommedan  delusion ;  or,  bidding  us  look  at  nations  who 
once  believed  as  we  do,  now  contending  for  what  we  consider 
fatal  error,  they  may  assure  us  that  our  cause  is  declining. 
To  all  this  we  have  two  answers.  First,  the  assumption  that 
our  cause  is  declining,  is  utterly  gratuitous.  We  think  it  not 
difficult  to  prove,  that  the  distinctive  principles  we  so  much 
venerate,  never  swayed  so  powerful  an  influence  over  the 
destinies  of  the  human  race  as  at  this  very  moment.  Point 
us  to  those  nations  of  the  earth  to  whom  moral  and  intellectual 
cultivation,  inexhaustible  resources,  progress  in  arts,  and  sa- 
gacity in  council,  have  assigned  the  highest  rank  in  political 
importance,  and  you  point  us  to  nations  whose  religious  opin- 
ions are  most  closely  allied  to  those  we  cherish.  Besides, 
when  was  there  a  period,  since  the  days  of  the  apostles,  in 
which  so  many  converts  have  been  made  to  these  principles, 
as  have  been  made,  both  from  Christian  and  Pagan  nations, 
within  the  last  five  and  twenty  years  ?  Never  did  the  people 
of  the  saints  of  the  Most  High  look  so  much  like  going  forth 
in  serious  earnest,  to  take  possession  of  the  kingdom  and 
dominion,  and  the  greatness  of  the  kingdom  under  the  whole 
heaven,  as  at  this  very  day.  We  see,  then,  nothing  in  the 
signs  of  the  times  which  forebodes  a  failure,  but  every  thing 
which  promises  that  our  undertaking  will  prosper.  But,  sec- 
ondly, suppose  the  cause  did  seem  declining ;  we  should  see 
no  reason  to  relax  our  exertions,  for  Jesus  Christ  has  said. 
Preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature.  Appearances,  whether 
prosperous  or  adverse,  alter  not  the  obligation  to  obey  a  posi- 
tive command  of  Almighty  God. 

Again,  suppose  all  that  is  affirmed  were  true.  If  it  must 
be,  let  it  be.  Let  the  dark  cloud  of  infidelity  overspread 
Europe,  cross  the  ocean,  and  cover  our  own  beloved  land. 
Let  nation  after  nation  swerve  from  the  faith.  Let  iniquity 
abound,  and  the  love  of  many  wax  cold,  even  until  there  is 
on  the  face  of  this  earth,  but  one  pure  church  of  our  Lord 
and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ.  All  we  ask  is,  that  we  may  be 
members  of  that  one  church.  God  grant  that  we  may  throw 
ourselves  into  this  Thermopylae  of  the  moral  universe. 

But  even  then,  we  should  have  no  fear  that  the  church  of 
God  would  be  exterminated.  We  would  call  to  remembrance 
the  years  of  the  right  hand  of  the  Most  High.  We  would 
recollect  there  was  once  a  time,  when  the  whole  church  of 


THE   MISSIONARY   ENTEKPRISE.  10 

Christ,  not  only  could  be,  but  actually  was,  gathered  with  one 
accord  in  one  place.  It  was  then  that  that  place  was  shaken 
as  with  a  rushing  mighty  wind,  and  they  were  all  filled  with 
the  Holy  Ghost.  That  same  day,  three  thousand  were  added 
to  the  Lord.  Soon,  we  hear,  they  have  filled  Jerusalem  with 
their  doctrine.  The  church  has  commenced  her  march.  Sa- 
maria has  with  one  accord  believed  the  gospel.  Antioch  has 
become  obedient  to  the  faith.  The  name  of  Christ  has  been 
proclaimed  throughout  Asia  Minor.  The  temples  of  the  gods, 
as  though  smitten  by  an  invisible  hand,  are  deserted.  The 
citizens  of  Ephesus  cry  out  in  despair,  Great  is  Diana  of  the 
Ephesians  !  Licentious  Corinth  is  purified  by  the  preaching 
of  Christ  crucified.  Persecution  puts  forth  her  arm  to  arrest 
the  spreading  "  superstition."  But  the  progress  of  the  faith 
cannot  be  stayed.  The  church  of  God  advances  unhurt, 
amidst  racks  and  dungeons,  persecutions  and  death ;  yea, 
"  smiles  at  the  drawn  dagger,  and  defies  its  point."  She  has 
entered  Italy,  and  appears  before  the  walls  of  the  eternal  city. 
Idolatry  falls  prostrate  at  her  approach.  Her  ensign  floats 
in  triumph  over  the  capitol.  She  has  placed  upon  her  brow 
the  diadem  of  the  Caesars ! 

After  having  witnessed  such  successes,  and  undef  such 
circumstances,  we  are  not  to  be  moved  by  discouragements. 
To  all  of  them  we  answer.  Our  Field  is  the  Woi'ld,  The 
more  arduous  the  undertaking,  the  greater  will  be  the  glory. 
And  that  glory  will  be  ours ;  for  God  Almighty  is  with  us. 

This  enterprise  of  mercy  the  Son  of  God  came  down  from 
heaven  to  commence,  and  in  commencing  it,  he  laid  down  his 
life.  To  us  has  he  granted  the  high  privilege  of  carrying  it 
forward.  The  legacy  which  he  left  us,  as  he  was  ascending 
to  his  Father  and  our  Father,  to  his  God  and  to  our  God, 
was,  Go  ye  into  all  the  world,  and  preach  the  gospel  to  every 
creature ;  and,  lo,  I  am  with  you  always,  even  unto  the  end 
of  the  world.  With  such  an  object  before  us,  under  such  a 
leader,  and  supported  by  such  promises,  other  motives  to  ex- 
ertion are  unnecessary.  Each  one  of  you  will  anxiously 
inquire,  how  he  may  become  a  co-worker  with  the  Son  of 
God,  in  the  glorious  design  of  rescuing  a  world  from  the  mis- 
eries of  the  fall ! 

Blessed  be  God,  this  is  a  work  in  which  every  one  of  us  is 
permitted  to  do  something.  None  so  poor,  none  so  weak, 
none  so  insignificant,  but  a  place  of  action  is  assigned  him ; 
and  the  cause  expects  every  man  to  do  his  duty.  We  answer, 
then, 


20  THE   MORAL    DIGNITY    OF 

1.  You  may  assist  in  it  by  your  prayers.  After  all  that 
we  have  said  about  means,  we  know  that  every  thing  will  be 
in  vain  without  the  influences  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  Paul  may 
plant,  and  ApoUos  water,  but  it  is  God  who  giveth  the  in- 
crease. And  these  influences  are  promised,  and  promised 
alone,  in  answer  to  prayer.  Ye  then  who  love  the  Lord, 
keep  not  silence,  and  give  him  no  rest,  until  he  establish  and 
make  Jerusalem  a  praise  in  the  whole  earth. 

2.  You  may  assist  by  your  personal  exertions.  This  cause 
requires  a  vigorous,  persevering,  universal,  and  systematic 
effort.  It  requires  that  a  spirit  should  pervade  every  one  of 
us,  which  shall  prompt  him  to  ask  himself  every  morning, 
What  can  I  do  for  Christ  to-day  ?  and  which  should  make 
him  feel  humbled  and  ashamed,  if  at  evening,  he  were  obliged 
to  confess  he  had  done  nothing.  Each  one  of  us  is  as  much 
obligated  as  the  missionaries  themselves,  to  do  all  in  his 
power  to  advance  the  common  cause  of  Christianity.  We, 
equally  with  them,  have  embraced  that  gospel,  of  which  the 
fundamental  principle  is.  None  of  us  liveth  to  himself.  And 
not  only  is  every  one  bound  to  exert  himself  to  the  uttermost, 
the  same  obligation  rests  upon  us  so  to  direct  our  exertions, 
that  each  of  them  may  produce  the  greatest  effect.  Each  one 
of  us  may  influence  others  to  embark  in  the  undertaking. 
Each  one  whom  we  have  influenced,  may  be  induced  to  enlist 
that  circle  of  which  he  is  the  centre,  until  a  self-extending 
system  of  intense  and  reverberated  action  shall  embody  into 
one  invincible  phalanx,  "  the  sacramental  host  of  God's  elect." 
Awake,  then,  brethren,  from  your  slumbers.  Seek  first  the 
kingdom  of  God  and  his  righteousness.  And  recollect  that 
what  you  would  do,  must  be  done  quickly.  The  day  is  far 
spent ;  the  night  is  at  hand.  Whatsoever  thy  hand  findeth  to 
do,  do  it  with  thy  might ;  for  there  is  no  work,  nor  device, 
nor  knowledge,  nor  wisdom,  in  the  grave  whither  thou  goest. 

3.  You  may  assist  by  your  pecuniary  contributions.  An 
opportunity  of  this  kind  will  now  be  presented.  And 
here,  I  trust,  it  is  unnecessary  to  say  that  in  such  a  cause  we 
consider  it  a  privilege  to  give.  How  so  worthily  can  you 
appropriate  a  portion  of  that  substance  which  Providence  has 
given  you,  as  in  sending  to  your  fellow-men,  who  sit  in  the 
region  and  shadow  of  death,  a  knowledge  of  the  God  who 
made  them,  and  of  Jesus  Christ  whom  he  hath  sent  ?  We 
pray  you,  so  use  the  mammon  of  unrighteousness,  that  when 
ye  fail,  they  may  receive  you  into  everlasting  habitations. 


THE    MISSIONARY   ENTERPRISE.  21 

P)ut  I  doubt  not  you  already  burn  with  desire  to  testify  your 
Jove  to  the  crucified  Redeemer.  Enthroned  in  the  high  and 
holy  place,  he  looks  down  at  this  moment  upon  the  heart  of 
every  one  of  us,  and  will  accept  of  your  offering,  though  it  be 
but  the  widow's  mite,  if  it  be  given  with  the  widow's  feeling. 
In  the  last  day  of  solemn  account,  he  will  acknowledge  it 
before  an  assembled  universe,  saying.  Inasmuch  as  ye  did  it 
unto  one  of  the  least  of  these  my  brethren,  ye  did  it  unto  me  ! 
May  God  of  his  grace  enable  us  so  to  act,  that  on  that  day 
we  may  meet  with  joy  the  record  of  the  doings  of  this 
nour ;  and  to  his  name  shall  be  the  glory  in  Christ.     Amen. 


ARGUMENTS    FOR   MISSIONS. 

BY 

REV.  EDWARD    D.   GRIFFIN,  D.   D. 

And  Jesus  came  and  spake  unto  them,  saying,  All  power  is  given  unto  me  in  heaven 
and  in  earth.  Go  ye  therefore  and  teach  all  nations,  baptizing  them  in  the  name  of 
the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost ;  teaching  them  to  observe  all 
things  whatsoever  I  have  commanded  you.  And  lo,  I  am  with  you  alway,  even  unto 
the  end  of  the  world.  —  Matthew  28 :  18, 19,  20. 

I  RISE  to  advocate  the  cause  of  missions  to  the  heathen  and 
to  plead  for  a  dying  world.  My  sole  object  is  to  enforce  the 
claims  of  ^ve  hundred  millions  of  perishing  men  by  some 
plain  and  simple  arguments  whicii  have  affected  my  own 
mind.  And  I  have  chosen  this  text  because  it  contains  some 
of  the  arguments  and  suggests  the  rest.  Both  the  authority 
of  Christ  and  his  personal  reward  are  here  distinctly  brought 
to  bear  on  the  subject.  For  his  obedience  "  unto  death  "  he 
received  the  inheritance,  including  "  the  heathen "  and  "  the 
uttermost  parts  of  the  earth,"  with  authority  to  manage  the 
whole  estate.  This  authority  he  employed  in  sending  forth 
missionaries  to  disciple  all  nations  and  to  bring  to  him  the 
unnumbered  millions  promised  for  his  seed. 

My  first  argument,  then,  is  founded  upon  the  authority  of 
Christ.  The  injunction  in  the  text  was  not  addressed  to  the 
eleven  exclusively,  but  to  them  as  depositaries  of  the  divine 
commands,  and  through  them  to  the  whole  body  of  ministers 
in  every  age.  This  appears  from  the  promise  subjoined, 
"  Lo  I  am  with  you  alway,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  worldJ* 
Indeed  the  eleven  were  expressly  commanded  to  transmit  to 
their  successors  all  the  injunctions  which  they  themselves 
received,  one  of  which  was  to  disciple  all  nations.  **  Go  ye  — 
and  disciple  all  nations,  —  teaching  them  to  observe  all  things 


ARGUMENTS   FOR  MISSIONS.  23 

whatsoever  I  have  commanded  youP  This  command  then  is 
now  sounding  in  the  ears  of  the  ministers  and  churches  of 
the  nineteenth  century. 

And  yet  some  when  called  upon  for  their  aid  are  heard  to 
say,  I  do  not  approve  of  such  things :  just  as  though  they  had 
a  right  to  place  themselves  on  the  seat  of  judgment  and  de- 
cide for  themselves  what  they  will  approve  and  what  not, 
when  the  command  of  God  is  in  their  ear  and  his  sword  at 
their  breast.  Hark !  did  you  not  hear  that  thunder  ?  "  Curse 
ye  Meroz ;  —  curse  ye  bitterly  the  inhabitants  thereof ;  be- 
cause they  came  not  up  to  the  help  of  the  Lord,  to  the  help 
of  the  Lord  against  the  mighty." 

My  second  argument  is  grounded  on  the  example  of 
Christ  and  his  apostles.  The  Saviour  of  the  world  sent  out 
a  band  of  missionaries  and  charged  them  to  "preach  the 
Gospel  to  every  creature ; "  "  and  they  went  forth  and 
preached  every  where"  "that  men  should  repent."  No 
one  objection  can  be  raised  against  missions  at  the  present 
day  which  will  not  equally  lie  against  Christ  and  his  apostles. 
The  attempt  is  no  more  presumptuous  now  than  then ;  the 
prospect  is  no  more  discouraging;  the  difficulties  are  no 
greater;  the  power  that  is  engaged  to  give  success  is  the 
same,  for  the  promise  remains  unchanged,  "  Lo,  I  am  with 
you  alway,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world." 

My  third  argument  is  founded  on  what  we  owe  to  the 
heathen.  Is  the  Gospel  no  blessing  to  you  ?  And  would  it 
not  be  an  equal  blessing  to  them  ?  And  are  we  not  bound 
to  extend  to  others  all  the  happiness  in  our  power?  To 
say  that  pagans  can  be  as  happy  witliout  the  Gospel  as  with 
it,  is  to  say  that  the  Gospel  is  no  blessing  to  men ;  and  then 
you  do  not  believe  that  it  came  from  God.  If  the  Gospel 
would  be  no  blessing  to  the  heathen,  why  do  you  preach  or 
support  it  at  home  ?  Are  you  universaHsts  ?  But  still  you 
find  motives  enough  to  preach  or  support  what  you  call  the 
Gospel  at  home.  Why  then  not  send  it  to  other  nations  ? 
If  all  mankind  are  to  be  saved,  —  and  mercy  requires  that 
the  tidings  be  circulated  with  sectarian  zeal  through  Christen- 
dom, to  dispel  the  gloomy  fears  of  former  generations,  — 
why  not  send  the  glorious  news  to  Asia  ?  If  things  are  so, 
let  armies  of  missionaries  be  collected  to  stop  those  bloody 
rites  which  guilt  and  fear  have  invented  to  atone  for  sin  and 
prevent  future  punishment.  Let  them  hasten  to  stop  the 
self-torturing  pilgrimages,  to  take  down  the  wretch  who  hangs 


24        .,  ARGUMENTS    FOR   MISSIONS. 

voluntarily  suspended  by  a  hook  thrust  through  his  side,  to 
drag  the  infatuated  victim  from  under  the  car  of  Juggernaut, 
and  the  widow  from  the  funeral  pile,  and  terminate  forever 
the  destruction  of  infants  in  the  Ganges.  Let  them  pour 
upon  the  ravished  ear  of  Asia  the  tidings  that  all  guilt  was 
expiated  on  Calvary ;  that  they  have  no  need  of  their  bloody 
rites,  nor  even  of  a  reformation  of  manners ;  that  they  may 
live  in  pleasure  here  without  apprehension,  and  enter  on 
eternal  pleasure  hereafter. 

Let  it  be  true  that  all  men  will  be  saved,  or  even  that  men 
are  as  likely  to  be  saved  without  the  Gospel  as  with  it,  — is 
the  Gospel  of  no  service  in  the  present  life,  as  a  foundation  of 
hope,  as  a  purifier  of  manners,  as  a  tamer  of  the  passions,  as 
a  means  of  civilization,  as  a  handmaid  to  science  ?  What 
nation  since  the  commencement  of  the  Christian  era  ever  arose 
from  savage  to  civilized  without  Christianity  ?  If  you  are 
the  friends  of  the  huiiian  family,  I  call  upon  you  to  weep 
over  the  degraded  and  comfortless  condition  of  five  hundred 
millions  of  people  destitute  of  the  light  of  science,  and  the 
pleasures  of  refined  society,  subject,  in  a  large  proportion  of 
cases,  to  all  the  hardships  of  the  savage  state,  and  in  every 
instance  to  the  horrors  of  a  gloomy  superstition. 

But  what  believer  in  revelation  except  a  universalist,  will 
say  that  men  are  as  likely  to  be  saved  without  the  Gospel  as 
with  it  ?  Be  it  so  that  good  heathen  will  be  saved,  —  but  the 
mass  of  the  heathen  are  not  good. )  They  are  sunk  in  the 
grossest  vice.  All  the  passions,  and  all  the  crimes,  that  ever 
degraded  man,  there  rage  with  little  restraint.  Owing  to 
some  defect  which  nothing  but  revelation  can  explain,  man 
is  universally  inclined  to  evil.  This  truth,  which  every  page 
of  history  attests,  which  a  thousand  poets  have  mournfully 
sung,  which  all  the  statutes  of  legislators  have  acknowledged, 
is  confirmed  by  every  day's  experience.  It  is  equally  certain 
to  every  believer  in  Christianity,  that  the  grand  means  to 
reform  the  world  is  the  Gospel  of  Christ.  Let  nations  with 
all  these  native  passions  run  wild  without  this  means  of 
*  reformation,  and  what  can  you  expect  but  that  they  will  sink 
into  the  lowest  depths  of  vice  ?  Tell  me  not  that  their  igno- 
rance excuses  them.  Whence,  then,  that  resentment  with 
which  you  contemplate  savages  breaking  into  a  village  at 
night,  burning  houses,  murdering  infants  in  their  mothers' 
arms,  —  dragging  their  prisoners  to  the  slow  tortures  of  the 
stake,  and  rioting  on  their  groans  ?     Does  ignorance  excuse 


AKGUMENTS   FOR   MISSIONS.  25 

ail  the  infernal  passions  and  crimes  of  the  heathen  world? 
They  will  not  plead  this  themselves.  If  they  are  conscious 
of  no  fault  in  these  things,  whence  their  resentment  against 
each  other?  "WTien  they  take  revenge,  do  they  not  give 
judgment  that  pagans  may  sin  ?  Do  they  not  this  when  they 
execute  their  laws  on  criminals  ?  "  their  conscience  .  .  .  bearing 
witness,  and  their  thoughts  the  mean  while  accusing  .  .  .  one 
another."  But  if  any  doubt  remains,  read  the  Epistle  to 
the  Romans ;  contemplate  the  picture  of  the  heathen  world 
sketched  in  the  first  chapter,  and  the  inference  drawn  in  the 
third.  And  what  said  the  charitable  John  ?  "  We  know  that 
we  are  of  God,  and  the  whole  world  lieth  in  wickedness." 
The  only  means  to  reclaim  the  world  is  the  Gospel  of  Christ. 
What  nation  since  the  world  began  was  ever  reclaimed  with- 
out the  Scriptures  ?  Talk  as  you  will  of  the  salvation  of 
pious  heathen ;  let  it  be  admitted,  if  you  please,  that  now 
and  then  a  pagan  becomes  a  good  man  ;  yet  the  mass  of  the 
heathen  are  grossly  wicked,  and  will  always  remain  so  till 
reformed  by  the  Gospel  of  Christ. 

But  I  go  further.  Show  me  one  instance  in  which  God 
has  ever  saved  or  enlightened  an  adult  without  his  word  and 
ordinances.  But  his  word  and  ordinances  cannot  travel  to 
the  heathen  alone,  and  there  explain  themselves.  The  living 
preacher  must  go  with  them.  Even  in  the  days  of  miracles 
you  never  hear  of  a  Bible  carried  through  the  air  to  a  dis- 
tant land,  and  there  expounding  itself,  nor  of  a  pagan  taught 
to  read  without  a  human  teacher.  In  the  highest  reign  of 
miracles  and  inspiration,  prophets  and  apo&tles  must  carry  to 
men  the  word  and  ordinances  of  God,  or  no  salvation  was 
accomplished.  You  may  take  your  opinions  from  yourself  if 
you  will ;  I  will  take  mine  from  the  word  of  God.  And 
what  does  that  teach  ?  "  The  Scripture  saith,  —  Whosoever 
shall  call  upon  the  name  of  the  Lord  shall  be  saved.  How 
then  shall  they  call  on  him  in  whom  they  have  not  believed  ? 
and  how  shall  they  believe  in  him  of  whom  they  have  not 
heard?  and  how  shall  they  hear  without  a  preacher?  and 
how  shall  they  preach  except  they  be  sent  ?  "  If  this  does  not 
absolutely  prove  that  no  adult  heathen  can  be  saved,  it  proves 
at  least  that  no  salvation  can  come  to  him  in  the  known  and 
ordinary  way.  Every  imagination,  then,  that  the  heathen  will 
come  in  of  themselves,  if  let  alone,  —  is  a  bewildering  fancy. 

My  fourth  argument  is  drawn  from  the  sacrifices  of  the 
^ssionaries  themselves,  and  the  debt  of  gratitude  which  we 
3 


26  ARGUMENTS    FOR   MISSIONS. 

owe  them.  To  see  these  interesting  youth,  with  the  spirit  of 
martyrs,  offering  themselves  to  die  under  an  Indian  or  an 
African  sun  ;  for  the  love  of  Christ  tearing  themselves  from 
parents,  and  brothers,  and  sisters,  to  see  them  no  more ; 
taking  an  eternal  leave  of  the  scenes  and  companions  of 
their  youth ;  abandoning  their  native  shore  and  their  native 
tongue,  to  bear  the  tidings  of  a  precious  Saviour  to  distant 
nations ;  to  see  delicate  young  females,  who  have  been  dan- 
dled in  the  lap  of  parental  tenderness,  with  a  heroism  which 
nothing  but  Christian  principles  could  support,  tearing  them- 
selves for  the  last  time  from  the  arms  of  trembling  mothers 
and  speechless  sisters,  to  encounter  the  dangers  of  the  seas 
and  the  still  greater  dangers  of  a  torrid  clime,  in  order  to 
support  their  husbands  by  their  smiley  and  prayers  in  a  for- 
eign land,  among  sooty  pagans  ;  this  is  a  scene  which  makes 
selfishness  blush  and  hang  its  head ;  which  shames  all  the 
ordinary  piety  that  is  couched  in  ease  at  home,  trembling  at 
self-denials.  I  beseech  you  to  follow  these  precious  youth 
with  your  prayers  and  your  tenderest  cohcern.  They  have 
gone  in  the  service  of  our  Father's  family.  They  sacrifice 
all  for  us.  Shall  we  not  follow  them  with  the  interest  of 
brothers  and  sisters  through  the  groves  of  India  and  the  for- 
ests of  America  ?  And  when  we  hear  of  their  trials,  their  dan- 
gers, their  escapes,  their  successes,  shall  we  not  feel  as  though 
we  were  receiving  accounts  from  our  near  kindred  ?  When 
they  tell  us  of  the  triumphs  of  Hindoo  converts,  or  send  to 
our  ears  the  young  hosannas  of  Syrian  or  Sandwich  children, 
shall  we  not  mingle  our  souls  with  theirs,  and  join  in  the  joy 
as  though  they  were  bone  of  our  bone  and  flesh  of  our  flesh  ? 
Yes,  dear  missionaries,  we  will  remember  you  and  all  the 
sacrifices  you  have  made,  till  these  hearts  shall  cease  to  beat. 
God  Almighty  go  with  you  and  keep  you  in  the  hollow  of  his 
hand  till  we  meet  in  heaven. 

Sometimes,  in  restrained  and  modest  terms,  these  beloved 
men  hint  to  us  their  wants.  I  fear  they  do  not  tell  all.  I 
fear  they  may  yet  suffer  in  a  foreign  land  for  want  of  a  little 
more  of  that  wealth  which  is  heaped  up  in  America.  Much 
has,  indeed,  been  given ;  and  I  thank  yoii  and  the  American 
churches  in  the  name  of  all  the  poor  pagans  of  the  wilder- 
ness. I  thank  you  in  the  name  of  those  blessed  men  who 
have  forsaken  all  for  Christ.  When  they  lay  their  heads 
down  far  from  mother  and  sister,  your  charity  will  spread 
their  couch  ^d  coyer  them  from  the  cold ;  your  charity  will 


ARGUMENTS    FOR   MISSIONS.  27 

furnish  their  table  and  refresh  them  when  they  are  weary. 
I  wish  I  could  present  to  your  view  a  thousand  pagan 
children  clothed  in  the  garments  which  you  have  furnished, 
and  learning  to  utter  the  praises  of  God  out  of  the  books 
which  you  have  given.  But  many  of  you,  I  trust,  will  have 
greater  joy  at  last.  You  will  see  them  clad  in  brighter 
robes ;  you  will  see  them  touch  the  golden'  harp,  and  hear 
them  say,  But  for  your  instrumentality  we  had  not  come  to 
this.     Then,  I  know,  your  reward  will  be  fuU. 

I  can  only  say,  if  you  have  anything  more  to  spare  we 

shall  gladly  receive  it.     And  what  you  give  will  cheer  the    * 

interesting  wanderer  on  the  plains  of  Ceylon  and  the  shores 

of  Owyhee,  who  have  left  all  for  Christ,  and  whose  sacrifices 

'and  prayers,  I  hope,  will  prove  the  salvation  of  our  children. 

My  fifth  argument  is,  that  foreign  missions  are  likely  to  v 
prove  the  most  glorious  means  of  grace  to  us  at  home. 
While  you  are  feeling  for  pagan  souls  and  sending  your  sons 
to  them,  I  firmly  believe  that  your  prayers  and  bounty  will 
return  unto  your  own  bosom.  Such  confidence  I  have  in 
God,  for  I  have  heard  him  say,  "  He  that  watereth  shall  be 
watered  also  himself."  I  believe  that  while  you  are  anxious 
to  raise  heathen  nations  from  death,  you  will  be  enabled  to 
shaJie  ofi*  your  grave  clothes  yourselves ;  that  while  you  are 
seeking  to  draw  forth  Indian  children  from  their  sepulchres 
and  present  them  alive  to  their  rejoicing  parents,  your  own 
children  will  start  into  life  by  your  side ;  that  while  the  love 
of  distant  nations  glows  in  our  hearts,  it  will  melt  us  all  down 
into  love  to  each  other,  and  burn  up  all  our  jealousies  and 
strifes.  Some  of  these  effects  I  seem  already  to  discern. 
God  grant  that  they  may  increase,  until  the  joy  of  America 
shall  respond  to  that  of  Asia  and  in  one  burst  of  praise  rise 
united  to  heaven.  May  your  charities  return  into  your  own 
bosom  and  that  of  your  children  for  days  and  years  and  an 
eternity  to  come. 

My  sixth  argument  is,  that  all  the  wealth  of  the  world  was 
given  to  Christ  as  a  recompense  for  redeeming  our  souls : 
and  shall  the  ingratitude  of  man  withhold  from  him  his  hire  ? 
It  will  not  always  be  thus.  The  time  will  come  when 
"  Holiness  to  the  Lord "  shall  be  written  on  all  the  posses- 
sions of  men,  —  on  the  very  "bells  of  the  horses;"  and  when 
"  the  pots  in  the  Lord's  house,"  (those  used  for  culinary  pur- 
poses in  the  families  of  the  priests,)  shall,  in  point  of  holiness, 
be  "  like  the  bowls  before  the  altar,"  which  received  the  blood 


28  ARGUMENTS    FOR   MISSIONS. 

of  the  victims  until  it  was  sprinkled  ;  and  when  "  every  pot  in 
Jerusalem  and  in  Judah  shall  be  holiness  unto  the  Lord  of 
hosts."  The  common  vessels  used  to  dress  our  food,  instead 
of  being  regarded  as  instruments  of  luxury  or  display,  like 
our  Bibles  and  psalm-books  shall  be  all  for  God.  Men  will 
Avrite  Holiness  to  the  Lord  on  every  dollar  and  on  every  foot 
of  ground.  They  will  no  longer  labor  to  hoard  but  to  do 
good. 

That  will  be  such  a  generation  as  has  not  yet  appeared. 
A  few  scattered  individuals  have  approached  towards  this 
character,  but  the  mass  of  mankind  in  every  age  have  held 
their  property  as  their  own,  and  not  as  a  sacred  deposit. 
With  multitudes  the  thought  of  giving  to  God  never  entered 
their  minds.  Go  to  them  for  their  proportion  to  support  the 
Gospel  at  home,  and  they  will  turn  you  away,  or  deal  ouf  a 
paltry  pittance  that  makes  you  ashamed.  Go  to  them  in 
behalf  of  the  heathen,  and  they  have  nothing  to  spare. 
Though  their  poorer  neighbors  are  giving  by  handfuls,  they 
have  nothing  to  spare.  They  are  so  in  debt  for  new  lands 
and  tenements,  that  they  cannot  give  a  cent  to  save  a  world 
from  death.  It  is  not  more  evident  than  Lucifer  himself  has 
a  separate  interest  from  Christ,  than  that  these  men  have. 
Wrapped  up  in  themselves,  they  mean  that  the  universe  shall 
take  care  of  itself.  It  is  not  for  them  to  go  abroad  to  inquire 
how  it  fares  with  other  nations ;  their  business  is  at  home. 
In  their  own  little  sordid  selves  they  lie  buried,  and  not  a 
meaner  object  is  to  be  seen  in  the  universe  of  God. 

There  is  another  class,  including  by  far  the  greater  part 
of  the  better  sort,  who  are  willing  to  give  to  Christ  something 
like  one  or  two  per  cent,  of  their  income,  but  hold  the  rest 
with  an  unyielding  grasp.  It  will  be  otherwise  in  that 
coming  day.  I  say  not  what  they  will  give,  for  God  has  not 
fixed  the  limit  for  obvious  reasons.  In  the  first  place,  the 
wants  of  men  in  different  countries  and  ages  call  for  different 
degrees  of  charity.  In  the  second  place,  had  God  prescribed 
the  exact  amount,  the  contribution  would  have  been  no  more 
an  index  of  the  heart  than  the  payment  of  any  other  tax. 
As  by  this  part  of  human  conduct  he  specially  intended  to 
draw  forth  the  dispositions  of  men,  he  left  the  proportion  to 
be  fixed  by  themselves,  after  giving  them  some  general  inti- 
mations of  his  will.  The  only  intimations  of  the  kind  were 
contained  in  the  Hebrew  law ;  and  even  there  he  left  much 
to  the  spontaneous  motion  of  the  heart.     Enough  however 


ARGUMENTS    FOR   MISSIONS.  29 

was  fixed  to  serve  as  a  general  guide  to  the  conscience.  In 
the  first  place,  they  were  to  devote  the  first  fruits  of  their 
fields  and  of  their  flocks :  in  the  second  place,  they  were  to 
give  to  the  Levites  a  tenth  of  all  the  products  of  both :  in 
the  third  place,  they  were  to  consume  another  tenth  in 
charity  feasts  with  the  Levites  and  the  poor :  in  the  fourth 
place,  they  were  to  offer  many  expensive  sacrifices,  some 
fixed  by  law  and  others  voluntary.  These  four  items  cannot 
be  reckoned  at  less  than  three  tenths  of  their  income.  In 
the  fifth  place,  the  many  contributions  demanded  for  the 
poor,  (some  fixed  by  law  and  others  voluntary,)  together 
with  all  that  was  required  for  hospitality,  are  moderately 
estimated  at  another  tenth.  Indeed  under  the  pressure  of  all 
these  laws,  a  conscientious  and  liberal  Hebrew  would  hardly 
get  through  the  year  without  parting  with  one  half  of  his  in- 
come. This  page  God  wrote  and  hung  out  of  heaven  and 
retired,  leaving  men  to  follow  their  own  judgment  and 
inclination  to  the  end  of  the  world.  In  the  day  when  Holi- 
ness to  the  Lord  shall  be  written  on  all  the  possessions  of  men, 
this  page  will  be  read  and  better  understood.  Then  a  law 
which  has  slept  through  so  many  selfish  ages  will  be  revived 
again,  and  holy  men  will  feel  it  a  privilege  to  give  something 
like  four  tenths  or  one  half  of  their  income  to  God.  And 
then  they  will  look  back  on  the  contracted  ages  gone  by,  with 
much  the  same  surprise  as  that  with  which  we  review  the 
slave  trade  or  the  superstitions  of  the  tenth  century. 

And  all  these  increased  contributions  will  be  wanted.  A 
little  calculation  would  surprise  you  here.  The  single  work 
of  furnishing  the  people  of  the  United  States  with  Bibles  for 
a  century  to  come,  almost  exceeds  belief.  If  we  increase  in 
numbers  as  w^e  have  done,  before  this  century  runs  out,  more 
than  six  millions  of  Bibles  must  be  annually  issued  to  supply 
our  own  population.  To  raise  up  ministers,  too,  for  the  un- 
numbered thousands  that  will  inhabit  these  states,  will  require 
perhaps  a  still  greater  tax.  And  among  other  cares,  poor, 
forsaken  Africa  must  not  be  neglected.  Her  crime  of  having 
a  sable  skin  must  not  exclude  her  from  the  kingdom  of  heav- 
en. Great  will  be  the  expense  of  training  up  her  sons  to 
serve  at  her  altars;  and  this  charge  must  fall  chiefly  on 
America.  Here,  as  in  no  other  civilized  nation  on  earth, 
materials  may  be  selected  from  a  million  and  a  half  of  her 
race.  Nor  are  Bibles  and  ministers  all.  Expensive  missions, 
for  a  great  many  years  to  come,  must  be  supported  in  every 
3* 


30  ARGUMENTS    FOR   MISSIONS. 

part  of  the  pagan  and  Mohammedan  world.  And  this  expense 
must  fall  chiefly  on  Christians  at  home.  Missionaries  cannot 
be  fed  by  ravens,  nor  will  the  heathen  themselves  support 
them.  AH  the  disposable  wealth  of  Christendom  will  be  put 
in  requisition.  Those  hundreds  of  thousands  which  are  now 
rusting  in  the  coffers  of  the  rich  must  be  brought  forth.  Those 
mighty  sums  which  support  wars  and  theatres  must  be  conse- 
crated to  God.  No  longer  must  wealth  enough  sleep  in  a 
single  commercial  city  to  convert  a  nation.  No  longer  must 
any  Ananias  and  Sapphira  keep  back  a  part  of  what  they 
have  professedly  devoted  to  the  Lord.  Let  all  professors  of 
religion  hear  this. 

Already  this  reviving  spirit  of  liberality  has  begun  to  ap- 
pear. Princely  fortunes  have  been  given  by  some  ;  thousands 
and  tens  of  thousands  by  others.  The  poor  laborer  has  di- 
vided with  God  his  hard-earned  gains.  Women  have  given 
up  their  ornaments.  Children  have  thrust  forward  their  little 
hands,  to  drop  their  all  into  the  missionary  box.  The  world 
is  fast  waking  up  to  the  conviction,  that  the  silver  and  the 
gold  are  the  Lord's. 

My  seventh  argument  is,  that  these  exertions  are  necessary 
to  bring  to  Christ  the  seed  and  the  kingdom,  the  victory  and 
the  triumph,  promised  him  as  his  reward.  This  world  be- 
longs to  Christ.  No  other  being  has  a  right  to  erect  an  inte- 
rest on  this  ground.  And  yet,  after  the  lapse  of  eighteen 
centuries,  two  thirds  of  the  earth  remain  in  pagan  or  Moham- 
medan darkness.  Ought  so  great  a  part  of  a  world  which 
Christ  has  redeemed  and  owns,  to  continue  in  the  hands  of 
his  enemy  ?  If  the  suffrages  of  nations  were  to  be  collected, 
what  would  a  redeemed  race  say  ?  To  whom  would  they 
assign  a  world  given  to  Christ  for  redeeming  them  ?  Would 
they  resign  it  to  his  enemy,  who  has  despoiled  it  of  its  Eden, 
and  covered  it  with  briers  and  thorns,  and  turned  it  into  a 
great  charnel-house  ?  or  would  they  give  it  to  him  who  came 
to  rescue  it  from  the  hands  of  destroying  devils,  and  died  to 
save  their  souls  ?  What  is  the  vote  of  a  redeemed  race  on 
this  subject  ?  If  human  instrumentality  is  wanted  to  drive 
the  usurper  from  his  seat,  shall  not  a  whole  race  rise  up  to 
the  effort  ?  Christ  could  have  conquered  his  enemy  without 
instruments ;  but  he  chose  to  bring  in  the  nations  in  a  way 
suited  to  moral  agents,  —  by  instructions,  so  conveyed  as  to 
favor  calm  reflection,  that  is,  through  human  organs ;  and  he 
chose  to  employ  men  as  co-workers  with  him,  that  he  might 


ARGUMENTS    FOR   MISSIONS.  31* 

train  them  to  benevolent  action.  He  is  not  dependent  on  us 
for  his  happiness.  It  is  the  height  of  benevolence,  that  he  is 
willing  to  consider  the  rescued  nations  as  his  reward.  It  is 
like  one  who  in  the  division  of  spoils  selects  a  captive  for  his 
portion,  and  makes  the  release  of  that  unhappy  one  the  gain 
most  welcome  to  his  heart.  And  vast  indeed  must  be  the 
good  that  can  satisfy  the  benevolence  of  the  Son  of  God,  and 
be  an  adequate  reward  for  his  wonderful  obedience  "  unto 
death."  Let  him  have  the  infinite  joy.  And  if  human  instru- 
mentality is  wanted,  let  the  whole  mass  of  Christendom  rise 
up  to  the  work.  Is  there  a  wretch  so  withered  and  debased, 
that  he  will  not  do  all  in  his  power  to  push  things  forward  to 
this  glorious  issue  ? 

The  Redeemer  began  his  triumph  when  he  ascended  from 
Olivet.  At  the  moment  of  parting  from  his  disciples,  he  was 
surrounded  by  no  outward  lustre.  Perhaps  the  bright  cloud 
which  received  him  contained  the  habiliments  of  glory  with 
which  he  was  ever  afterwards  to  be  arrayed.  Decked  thus 
in  his  regal  robes,  he  began  his  triumphant  march ;  returning 
in  state,  like  a  glorious  conqueror  to  his  royal  city.  I  see 
him  attended  with  "  thousands  of  angels,"  and  "  twenty  thou- 
sand "  "  chariots  of  Grod,"  leading  "  captivity  captive,"  with 
death  and  hell  chained  to  his  chariot  wheels.  I  hear  them 
shout,  "  Lift  up  your  heads,  O  ye  gates,  and  be  ye  lifted  up, 
ye  everlasting  doors,  and  the  King  of  glory  shall  come  in. 
Who  is  this  King  of  glory  ?  The  Lord  strong  and  mighty, 
the  Lord  mighty  in  battle.  [The  Lord  who  has  returned 
with  glorious  scars,  a  Conqueror  from  his  wars.]  Lift  up 
your  heads,  O  ye  gates,  even  lift  them  up,  ye  everlasting 
doors,  and  the  King  of  glory  shall  come  in." 

Early,  too,  he  commenced  his  triumph  on  earth.  In  the 
wonderful  campaign,  he  went  forth  single-handed  against  two 
worlds.  He  girded  his  sword  upon  his  thigh,  and  marched 
directly  into  the  heart  of  Satan's  kingdom.  Wherever  he 
went,  he  conquered.  At  his  approach,  temples  and  altars 
fell ;  oracles  grew  dumb ;  the  Roman  empire,  the  chief  seat  of 
Satan's  visible  kingdom,  shook  to  its  centre,  and  afterwards 
opened  to  the  Conqueror  and  fell  prostrate  at  his  feet.  He 
marched  through  the  nations,  breaking  down  the  prisons 
which  Satan  had  reared  to  confine  his  wretched  captives. 
Millions  who  had  been  immured  in  dungeons  from  their  birth, 
were  brought  forth  to  the  joyous  light.  Wherever  he  came, 
freedom  and  joy  sprung  up  around  him.  His  trophies  were 
not  wasted  provinces,  but  souls  delivered  from  the  destroyer. 


S2  ARGUMENTS    FOR   MISSIONS. 

The  high-minded  spirit  of  chivalry  celebrated  the  feats  of 
disinterested  knights,  who  roamed  the  kingdoms,  as  imagina- 
tion feigned,  to  deliver  oppressed  females  from  enchanted 
castles,  or  from  the  grasp  of  giants  and  genii ;  but  how  much 
more  benignant  a  deliverer  is  here ;  marching  through  the 
nations,  and  rescuing  those  who  had  no  helper  from  the  tyr- 
anny of  Satan.  God  speed  thee,  thou  glorious  Conqueror  ! 
Go  on  and  prosper ;  and  may  the  blessing  of  millions  ready 
to  perish  come  upon  thee.  We  will  follow  the  wheels  of  his 
triumphal  chariot,  and  shout  as  we  go,  "  Hosanna  to  the  Son 
of  David :  blessed  is  he  that  cometh  in  the  name  of  the  Lord : 
hosanna  in  the  highest ! " 

His  triumphant  kingdom  commenced  among  the  Jews  at 
Pentecost,  and  among  the  Gentiles  at  the  baptism  of  Corne- 
lius. From  that  time  it  spread  like  lightning  through  all  the 
countries  from  Spain  to  India,  and  from  Scy thia  to  Ethiopia, 
until  in  three  centuries  it  mounted  the  throne  of  the  Cesars. 
But  after  it  had  breasted  an  embattled  race  for  three  hundred 
years,  and  had  placed  its  foot  on  the  neck  of  a  subjugated 
world,  it  fell  by  luxury  and  pride,  —  by  an  assumption  of 
lordly  dominion,  and  by  engrafting  upon  the  simple  institu- 
tions of  Christ  the  pomp  and  pageantry  of  pagan  rituals ; 
until  m  punishment  one  half  of  the  dominions  which  had  been 
rescued  from  the  prince  of  darkness  was  given  back  into  the 
hands  of  the  Mohammedans,  and  the  rest  sunk  under  the 
tyranny  and  mummeries  of  Rome,  until  it  lay  conquered  and 
besotted  at  the  feet  of  the  man  of  sin. 

But  this  and  every  other  enemy  shall  be  destroyed.  To 
complete  the  triumph  of  the  Redeemer  on  earth,  Satan  must 
not  only  be  again  expelled  from  the  Roman  empire,  but  be 
bound  "  a  thousand  years,"  that  he  "  deceive  the  nations  no 
more  till  the  thousand  years  be  fulfilled." 

And  when  all  his  elect  are  brought  home  and  displayed  in 
one  happy  family  around  the  throne,  with  what  infinite  joy 
will  he  bend  over  his  redeemed  Church  and  contemplate 
their  blessedness  and  hear  their  praise.  And  what  glory 
find  honor  and  blessing  will  their  bursting  hearts  forever 
ascribe  to  him.  John  had  a  vision  of  this  scene  and  makes 
the  following  report.  "  After  this  I  beheld,  and  lo,  a  great 
multitude  whicli  no  man  could  number,  of  all  nations  and 
kindreds  and  people  and  tongues,  stood  before  the  throne  and 
before  the  Lamb,  clothed  with  white  robes  and  palms  in  their 
hands  ;  and  cried  with  a  loud  voice,  saying,  Salvation  to  our 
God  which  sitteth  upon  the  throne  and  to  the  Lamb.     And 


ARGUMENTS   FOR   MISSIONS.  33* 

all  the  angels  stood  round  about  the  throne  and  about  the 
elders  and  the  four  living  creatures,  and  fell  before  the  throne 
on  their  faces  and  worshipped  God,  saying.  Amen :  blessing 
and  glory  and  wisdom  and  thanksgiving  and  honor  and  power 
and  might  be  unto  our  God  for  ever  and  ever.  Amen."  At 
another  time  he  saw  a  grand  jubilee  held  in  heaven  in  honor 
of  the  Lamb ;  the  redeemed  first  beginning  the  song,  the 
angels  then  striking  in,  and  before  it  was  done  the  whole 
creation  employed  in  the  bursting  praise.  "  And  when  he 
had  taken  the  book  the  four  living  creatures  and  four  and 
twenty  elders,  [the  representatives  of  the  whole  Church,] 
fell  down  before  the  Lamb,  having  every  one  of  them  harps 
and  golden  vials  full  of  odors,  which  are  the  prayers  of 
saints.  And  they  sung  a  new  song,  saying.  Thou  art  worthy 
to  take  the  book  and  to  open  the  seals  thereof;  for  thou  wast 
slain  and  hast  redeemed  us  to  God  by  thy  blood  out  of  every 
kindred  and  tongue  and  people  and  nation,  and  hast  made  us 
unto  our  God  kings  and  priests,  and  we  shall  reign  on  the 
earth.  And  I  beheld  and  I  heard  the  voice  of  many  angels 
round  about  the  throne  and  [about]  the  living  creatures  and 
the  elders  ;  (and  the  number  of  them  was  ten  thousand  times 
ten  thousand  and  thousands  of  thousands;)  saying  with  a 
loud  voice,  Worthy  is  the  Lamb  that  was  slain  to  receive 
power  and  riches  and  wisdom  and  strength  and  honor  and 
glory  and  blessing.  And  every  creature  which  is  in  heaven 
and  on  the  earth  and  under  the  earth,  and  such  as  ^re  in  the 
sea,  and  all  that  are  in  them,  heard  I  saying.  Blessing  and 
honor  and  glory  and  power  be  unto  him  that  sitteth  upon  the 
throne,  and  unto  the  Lamb  for  ever  and  ever.  And  the 
four  living  creatures  said,  Amen ;  and  the  four  and  twenty 
elders  fell  down  and  worshipped  him  that  liveth  for  ever  and 
ever." 

How  delightful  to  contemplate  the  honors  which  encircle 
the  Lamb  in  the  midst  of  his  Father's  throne.  After  wan- 
dering an  exile  from  heaven  for  more  than  thirty  years  for 
our  revolt,  how  joyous  to  know  that  he  has  found  a  home. 
After  the  crown  of  thorns,  we  are  happy  to  see  him  wear  the 
diadem  of  the  universe.  After  depending  for  bread  on  the 
charity  of  his  female  followers,  we  are  glad  to  see  him  the 
Heir  of  all  things,  and  able,  in  his  turn,  to  impart  to  others. 
After  being  so  long  neglected  and  despised  by  men,  we  re- 
joice that  he  has  found  those  who  know  how  to  honor  his 
worth;  we  exult  to  hear  the  shout  of  all  heaven  in  his 
praise.     After  the  agonies  of  the  garden  and  the  cross,  we 


34  ♦  ARGtTMEKTS   FOR   MISSIONS'. 

sing  and  shout  for  joy  that  he  has  found  infinite  and  eternal 
dehght  in  the  glory  of  his  Father  and  the  salvation  of  his 
Church.  Let  him  have  his  happiness  and  his  honors. 
Amidst  all  the  sufferings  of  life  it  shall  be  our  solace  that 
the  despised  Nazarene  has  found  his  throne,  —  that  the  man 
of  sorrows  is  happy  at  last.  Of  all  the  luxuries  that  ever 
feasted  the  human  soul,  the  sweetest  is  to  see  the  Lamb  that 
was  slain  in  the  midst  of  his  Father's  throne.  We  will  em- 
balm his  name  in  our  grateful  hearts.  We  will  embalm  it 
by  our  praise,  which  shall  live  while  we  have  breath  and 
sink  away  upon  our  dying  lips.  And  we  will  embalm  it 
among  the  songs  of  the  upper  world.  If  we  are  permitted 
to  come  and  stand  where  the  elders  bow,  how  will  we  bow 
and  sing.  When  we  shall  look  down  to  hell  and  see  our  old 
companions  there,  and  then  back  to  Calvary,  and  then  look 
up  and  read  the  touching  traces  of  love  in  those  melting  eyes 
and  among  the  prints  of  the  nails  and  the  thorns,  we  will 
embalm  his  name,  if  love  and  songs  can  do  it.  We  will  tell 
all  heaven  of  his  love.  If  ever  new  inhabitants  should  come 
in  from  other  worlds,  they  shall  hear  the  story  of  Calvary. 
If  commissioned  in  remote  ages  of  eternity  to  visit  other 
systems,  we  will  carry  the  amazing  tidings  to  them.  We 
will  tell  them  to  all  we  meet.  We  will  erect  monuments  of 
the  wonderful  facts  on  every  plain  of  heaven,  and  inscribe 
them  all  over  with  the  story  of  the,  manger,  the  garden,  and 
the  cross.  While  gratitude  and  truth  remain,  the  name  and 
the  love  of  Jesus  shall  never  be  forgotten. 

And  now,  my  beloved  brethren,  I  invite  you  to  go  with 
me  and  look  for  a  moment  over  the  interesting  scene  which 
is  opening  on  earth.  For  many  years  the  Christian  world 
had  been  sunk  in  a  profound  slumber  in  regard  to  this  duty  ; 
but  for  the  last  four  and  thirty  years  they  have  been  waking 
up.  He  who  has  engraven  Zion  on  the  palms  of  his  hands, 
—  who  never  wants  means  to  fulfil  his  promises,  —  has  sent 
his  heavenly  influence  to  rouse  the  Christian  world.  He 
beheld  the  desolations  of  Zion  and  has  come  to  rebuild  her 
ruined  walls.  He  heard  the  groans  of  his  people  as  with 
harps  on  the  willows  they  were  weeping  "  by  the  rivers  of 
Babylon,"  and  has  come  to  bring  them  again  "  to  Zion  with 
songs  and  everlasting  joy  upon  their  heads."  Eternal  thanks 
to  God  for  what  our  eyes  have  seen  and  our  ears  have  heard 
for  the  last  four  and  thirty  years.  Eternal  thanks  to  God 
for  the  increasing  wonders  which  are  rapidly  opening  on  the 
world.     And  0,  can  we  restrain  the  bursting  emotion  ?  for 


ARGUMENTS   FOR   MISSIONS.  35  * 

ever  blessed  be  his  great  and  glorious  name  for  wbat  we 
have  begun  to  see  in  our  own  land.  It  is  more  than  thirty 
years  since  the  Christians  in  Great  Britain  awoke ;  and  they 
have  been  holding  on  their  way  with  increasing  majesty  and 
glory,  until  that  little  island  bestows  annually  more  than  a 
million  of  dollars  upon  strangers.  It  is  fourteen  years  since 
New  England  broke  her  slumbers,  and  now  the  mass  of  her 
population  seems  drenched  in  the  missionary  spirit.  I  saw 
the  day  cover  the  plains  of  Europe.  I  saw  the  westward- 
travelling  light  spread  itself  over  these  eastern  states.  Nine 
years  ago  I  saw  the  rays  of  the  morning  tip  our  Presbyterian 
horizon.  I  saw  the  dawn  blush  deeper  and  deeper.  I  knew 
it  would  not  all  return  again  to  midnight.  I  knew  the  sun 
would  rise.  At  length  I  saw  his  golden  limb  above  the 
eastern  woods  ;  and  from  the  course  of  day  I  knew  that  soon 
the  heavenly  flood  would  cover  all  the  plains  to  Arkansas 
and  the  Pacific.  Already  the  influence  of  heaven  has  dropped 
,  upon  the  wilderness,  and  the  yell  of  the  war  whoop  is  changed 
to  notes  of  praise.  We  must  not  stop  till  every  Indian 
tongue  has  joined  the  general  song.  We  must  not  stop  till 
our  influence  has  cheered  the  whole  extent  of  South  Amer- 
ica. And  then  we  must  go  forth  to  the  islands,  and  hold  on 
our  way  till  we  meet  our  brethren  in  other  fields  and  unite 
with  them  in  completing  the  harvest  of  the  world. 

We  owe  the  sincerest  gratitude  to  God  for  giving  us  our 
existence  in  such  a  day  as  this.  Many  prophets  and  kings 
desired  to  see  this  day  and  saw  it  not.  One  spirit  has  seized 
the  Christian  world  to  send  the  Gospel,  with  a  great  company 
of  its  publishers,  to  all  the  nations  of  the  earth.  Missionary 
and  Bible  Societies,  those  stupendous  monuments  of  Christian 
charity,  have  risen  so  rapidly  and  in  so  great  numbers  through- 
out Europe  and  Anierica,  that  in  contemplating  them  we  are 
"  like  them  that  dream."  These  societies  have  already  ac- 
complished wonders,  and  are  constantly  stretching  forward  to 
future  achievements  beyond  the  reach  of  imagination.  On 
the  burning  sands  of  Africa,  where  Christian  feet  never  be- 
fore trod,  there  is  the  holy  band  of  missionaries,  struggling, 
amidst  dangers  and  deaths,  to  lead  the  sable  tribes  of  Ethio- 
pia to  stretch  forth  their  hands  to  God.  On  the  plains  of 
Hindostan,  a  "consecrated  host"  are  translating  the  Scrip- 
tures into  more  than  thirty  different  languages,  spoken  by  a 
population  greater  than  that  of  all  Europe.  On  the  borders 
of  China  they  have  produced  a  version  which  will  give  the 
oracles  of  God  to  one  quarter  of  the  population  of  the  globe, 


36  ARGUMENTS   FOR   MISSIONS. 

In  the  southern  islands  a  nation  is  born  in  a  day.  From  the 
hill  of  Zion,  —  from  the  top  of  Calvary,  —  they  are  freighting 
every  caravan  of  pilgrims  with  Bibles  for  all  the  countries  of 
the  east.  Certainly  the  angel  has  begun  his  flight  through 
the  midst  of  heaven,  "having  the  everlasting  Gospel  to 
preach  —  to  every  nation,  and  kindred,  and  tongue,  and 
people." 

My  soul  is  enlarged  and  stands  erect  as  I  look  down  the 
declivity  of  years  and  see  the  changes  which  these  young 
Davids,  under  God,  will  make  in  all  the  earth.  Countless 
millions  are  shortly  to  awake  from  the  sleep  and  darkness  of 
a  hundred  ages  to  hail  the  day  that  will  never  go  down.  I 
see  the  darkness  rolling  upon  itself  and  passing  away  from  a 
thousand  lands.  I  see  a  cloudless  day  following  and  laying 
itself  over  all  the  earth.  I  see  the  nations  coming  up  from 
the  neighborhood  of  the  brutes  to  the  dignity  of  tlfe  sons  of 
God,  —  from  the  stye  in  which  they  had  wallowed,  to  the 
purity  of  the  divine  image.  I  see  the  meekness  of  the  Gos- 
pel assuaging  their  ferocious  passions,  melting  down  a  mil- 
lion contending  units  into  one,  silencing  the  clangor  of  arms, 
and  swelling  into  life  a  thousand  budding  charities  which  had 
died  under  the  long  winter.  I  hear  the  voice  of  their  joy. 
It  swells  from  the  valleys  and  echoes  from  the  hills.  I  al- 
ready hear  on  the  eastern  breeze  the  songs  of  new-born 
nations.  I  already  catch  from  the  western  gale  the  praise  of 
a  thousand  islands.  I  ascend  the  Alps  and  see  the  darkness 
retiring  from  the  papal  world.  I  ascend  the  Andes  and  see  ' 
South  America  and  all  the  islands  of  the  Pacific  one  altar. 
I  ascend  the  mountains  of  Thibet,  and  hear  from  the  plains 
of  China  and  from  every  jungle  and  pagoda  of  Hindostan  the 
praises  of  the  living  God.  I  see  all  Asia  bowing  before  him 
who  eighteen  centuries  ago  hung  in  the  midst  of  them  on 
Calvary.  I  traverse  oceans  and  hear  from  every  floating 
Bethel  the  songs  of  the  redeemed. 

"  The  dwellers  in  the  vales  and  on  the  rocks 
Shout  to  each  other ;  and  the  mountain  tops, 
From  distant  mountains,  catch  the  fljing  joy ; 
Till,  nation  after  nation  taught  the  strain, 
Earth  rolls  the 'rapturous  hosanna  round." 

Come  that  blessed  day.     Let  my  eyes  once  behold  the 
sight,  and  then  give  this  worthless  body  to  the  worms. 


THE  THEORY  OF  MISSIONS  TO  THE  HEATHEN. 

BY 

REV.    RUFUS    ANDERSON,   D.   D. 


Now  then  we  are  ambassadors  for  Christ ;  as  though  God  did  beseech  you  by  us,  we 
pray  you  in  Christ's  stead,  be  ye  reconciled  to  God.  ~  2  Coeinthians  5 :  20. 

Comparing  the  present  period  of  the  church  with  the 
apostolical,  we  come  to  two  very  different  results  respecting 
our  own  age.  One  is,  that  the  facilities  enjoyed  by  us  for 
propagating  the  gospel  throughout  the  world,  are  vastly 
greater  than  those  enjoyed  by  the  apostles.  The  other  is, 
that  it  is  far  more  difficult  now,  than  it  was  then,  to  impart  a 
purely  spiritual  character  to  missions  among  the  heathen. 

As  to  facilities,  we  have  the  advantage  of  the  apostles  in 
all  respects,  except  the  gift  of  tongues.  The  world,  as  a 
whole,  was  never  so  open  to  the  preacher  of  the  gospel  since 
the  introduction  of  the  Christian  dispensation.  The  civiliza- 
tion, too,  that  is  connected  with  modem  science,  is  all  con- 
nected also  with  Christianity  in  some  of  its  forms.  I  should 
add,  that  the  civilization  which  the  gospel  has  conferred  upon 
our  own  New  England  is  the  highest  and  best,  in  a  religious 
point  of  view,  the  world  has  yet  seen. 

But  on  the  other  hand,  this  very  perfection  of  our  own 
social  religious  state  becomes  a  formidable  hindrance  to 
establishing  such  purely  spiritual  missions  among  heathen 
nations,  as  were  those  of  the  apostolical  times.  Not  that  this 
is  the  only  hindrance  to  this  result ;  tliere  are  many  others, 
but  this  is  an  important  one.  For,  the  Christian  religion  is 
identified,  in  all  our  conceptions  of  it  from  our  earliest  years, 
4 


36  THE    THEORY    OF    MISSIONS 

with  the  almost  universal  diffusion  among  its  professors  of  the 
blessings  of  education,  industry,  civil  liberty,  family  govern- 
ment, social  order,  the  means  of  a  respectable  livelihood,  and 
a  well-ordered  community.  Hence  our  idea  of  piety  in  con- 
verts among  the  heathen  very  generally  involves  the  acquisi- 
tion and  possession,  to  a  great  extent,  of  these  blessings  ;  and 
our  idea  of  the  propagation  of  the  gospel  by  means  of  missions 
is,  to  an  equal  extent,  the  creation  among  heathen  tribes  and 
nations  of  a  highly  imjproved  state  of  society,  such  as  we  our- 
selves enjoy.  And  for  this  vast  intellectual,  moral,  and  social 
transformation  we  allow  but  a  short  time.  We  expect  the 
first  generation  of  converts  to  Christianity,  even  among  sav- 
ages, to  come  into  all  our  fundamental  ideas  of  morals,  man- 
ners, political  economy,  social  organization,  right,  justice, 
equity ;  although  many  of  these  are  ideas  which  our  own 
community  has  been  ages  in  acquiring.  If  we  discover  that 
converts  under  the  torrid  zone  go  but  half  clothed,  that  they 
are  idle  on  a  soil  where  a  small  amount  of  labor  will  supply 
their  wants,  that  they  sometimes  forget  the  apostle's  cautions 
to  his  converts,  not  to  lie  one  to  another,  and  to  steal  no  more, 
in  communities  where  the  grossest  vice  scarcely  affects  the 
reputation,  and  that  they  are  slow  to  adopt  our  ideas  of  the 
rights  of  man ;  we  at  once  doubt  the  genuineness  of  their 
conversion,  and  the  faithfulness  of  their  missionary  instruc- 
tors. Nor  is  it  surprising  that  this  feeling  is  strongest,  as  it 
appears  to  be,  in  the  most  enlightened  and  favored  portions 
of  our  country ;  since  it  is  among  those  whose  privilege  it  is 
to  dwell  upon  the  heights  of  Zion,  that  we  have  the  most 
reason  to  expect  this  feeling,  until  they  shall  have  reflected 
maturely  on  the  difference  there  is  between  their  own  cir- 
cumstances and  states  of  mind,  and  those  of  a  heathen  and 
barbarous  people. 

Now  the  prevalence  of  these  sentiments  at  home  has  ex- 
erted an  influence  on  all  the  missions.  Nor  is  the  influence 
new.  You  see  it  in  the  extent  to  which  farmers  and  mechan- 
ics —  pious  but  secular  men  —  were  sent,  many  years  ago, 
along  with  the  missionaries,  to  assist  in  reclaiming  the  sav- 
ages of  the  wilderness  from  the  chase,  and  settling  them  in 
communities  like  our  own  —  a  practice  now  nearly  discon- 
tinued, except  where  the  expense  is .  borne  by  the  national 
government. 

Unless  this  influence  is  guarded  against  by  missionaries 
and  their  directors,  the  result  is  that  the  missions  have  a 


TO    THE   HEATHEN.  39 

two-fold  object  qf  2^r suit ;  the  one,  that  simple  and  sublime 
spiritual  object  of  the  ambassador  for  Christ  mentioned  in 
the  text,  "persuading  men  to  be  reconciled  to  God;"  the 
other,  the  re-organizing,  by  various  direct  means,  of  the  struc- 
ture of  that  social  system,  of  which  the  converts  form  a  part. 
Thus  the  object  of  the  missions  becomes  more  or  less  compli- 
cated, leading  to  a  complicated,  burdensome,  and  perhaps, 
expensive  course  of  measures  for  its  attainment. 

I  may  be  allowed,  therefore,  to  invite  attention  to  what  is 
conceived  to  be  our  true  and  only  office  and  work  in  missions 
to  the  heathen,  "  Now  then  we  are  ambassadors  for  Christ ; 
as  though  God  did  beseech  you  by  us,  we  pray  you  in 
Christ's  stead,  be  ye  reconciled  to  God.'  The  ambassadors 
here  spoken  of  were  missionaries  —  misionaries  to  the 
heathen,  for  such  were  Paul  and  his  associates ;  sent,  in- 
stead of  Christ  the  Mediator,  on  a  ministry  withheld  from 
angels,  to  plead  with  rebellious  men  to  become  reconciled  to 
God.  They  are  ambassadors  sent  on  the  same  general 
errand  that  brought  the  Lord  Jesus  from  heaven,  and  their 
commission  is  to  proclaim  abroad  the  fact,  history,  design 
and  effect  of  his  atonement,  and  bring  its  renovating  power 
to  bear  as  widely  as  possible  upon  the  human  race. 

It  will  be  necessary  to  dwell  a  short  time  on  the  leading 
aspects  of  this  enterprise.     And, 

1.  The  vocation  of  the  missionary  who  is  sent  to  the 
heathen,  is  not  the  same  with  that  of  the  settled  pastor. 

The  work  of  human  salvation  is  one  of  vast  extent, 
whether  we  regard  the  time  it  is  to  occupy,  the  objects  upon 
which  it  operates,  the  agents  it  employs,  or  the  results  which 
are  to  be  accomplished.  And  it  is  performed  with  that 
regard  for  order  and  gradual  development,  which  gener- 
ally characterizes  the  works  of  God.  Upon  the  Lord  Jesus 
it  devolved  to  make  the  atonement,  thus  preparing  the  way, 
as  none  else  could  do,  for  reconciling  man  to  his  Maker ;  and 
then  He  returned  to  the  heaven  whence  he  came.  Upon  his 
immediate  disciples  it  then  devolved  to  make  proclamation  of 
the  atonement,  and  its  kindred  and  dependent  doctrines, 
throughout  the  world,  the  whole  of  which  world,  excepting 
Judea,  was  then  heathen.  This  they  were  to  do  as  his  rep- 
resentatives and  ambassadors ;  and  to  expedite  the  w^ork, 
they  were  furnished  with  the  gift  of  tongues,  and  an  extraor- 
dinary divine  influence  attended  their  preaching.  Their 
commission  embraced  only  the  proclamation  of  the  gospel 


40  THE   THEORY    OF   MISSIONS 

and  planting  its  institutions.  As  soon  as  the  gospel  by  their 
means  had  gained  a  footing  in  any  one  district  of  country, 
they  left  the  work  in  charge  to  others,  called  elders  and  also 
bishops  or  overseers  of  the  flock  and  church  of  God,  whom 
they  ordained  for  the  purpose.  Sometimes  they  did  not 
remain  even  long  enough  to  provide  spiritual  guides  for  the 
churches  they  had  planted.  "  For  this  cause,"  says  Paul  to 
Titus,  "  left  I  thee  in  Crete,  that  thou  shouldest  set  in  order 
the  things  that  are  wanting,  and  ordain  elders  in  every  city, 
as  I  had  appointed  thee."  The  elders  were  the  pastors  of 
the  new  churches.  Elsewhere  the  apostle  speaks  of  differ- 
ent departments  of  labor  and  influence  assigned  to  the  minis- 
ters of  Christ.  He  says  that  when  Christ  ascended  up  on 
high,  he  gave  gifts  unto  men ;  to  some  apostles,  to  some 
prophets,  to  some  evangelists,  to  some  pastors  and  teachers. 
Whatever  was  the  peculiar  office  of  "  prophets  "  and  "  teach- 
ers," none  can  doubt  that  "  evangelists  "  were  fellow-laborers 
of  the  apostles  in  the  missionary  work,  and  that  "  pastors  " 
had  the  stated  care  and  instruction  of  particular  churches. 
Now  missionaries  are  the  true  and  proper  successors  of  the 
apostles  and  evangelists,  and  their  sphere  of  duty  is  not  the 
same  with  that  of  pastors,  who  are  successors,  in  their  sacred 
functions,  not  so  much  of  the  apostles  and  evangelists,  as  of 
the  elders  and  bishops.  It  enters  into  the  nature  of  the  pas- 
tor's relation,  that  he  remain  or  be  intended  to  remain  long 
the  spiritual  instructor  of  some  one  people.  It  is  indeed  as 
really  his  business  to  call  sinners  to  repentance,  as  it  is  that 
of  the  missionary ;  but,  owing  to  his  more  permanent  rela- 
tions, and  to  the  fact  that  he  is  constituted  the  religious  guide 
and  instructor  of  his  converts  during  the  whole  period  of  their 
earthly  pilgrimage,  his  range  of  duty  in  respect  to  them  is 
more  comprehensive  than  that  of  the  missionary  in  respect  to 
his  converts.  The  pastor  is  charged,  in  common  with  the 
missionary,  with  reconciling  men  to  God ;  and  he  has  also  an 
additional  charge,  arising  from  the  peculiar  circumstances  of 
his  relation,  with  respect  to  their  growth  in  grace  and  sancti- 
fication.  But  the  missionary's  great  business  in  his  personal 
labors,  is  with  the  unconverted.  His  embassy  is  to  the  re- 
bellious, to  beseech  them,  in  Christ's  stead,  to  be  reconciled 
to  God.  His  vocation,  as  a  soldier  of  the  cross,  is  to  make 
conquests,  and  to  go  on,  in  the  name  of  his  divine  Master, 
"  conquering  and  to  conquer  ; "  committing  the  security  and 
permanency  of  his  conquests  to  another  class  of  men  created 


TO    THE   HEATHEN.  41 

expressly  for  the  purpose.  The  idea  of  continued  conquest 
is  fundamental  in  missions  to  the  heathen,  and  is  vital  to  their 
spiritual  life  and  efficiency.  It  will  doubtless  be  found  on 
inquiry,  that  missions  among  the  heathen  have  always  ceased 
to  be  healthful  and  efficient,  have  ceased  to  evince  the  true 
missionary  spirit  in  its  strength,  whenever  they  have  ceased 
to  be  actively  aggressive  upon  the  kingdom  of  darkness. 

In  a  word,  the  missionary  prepares  new  fields  for  pastors  ; 
and  when  they  are  thus  prepared,  and  competent  pastors  are 
upon  the  ground,  he  ought  himself  to  move  onward,  —  the 
pioneer  in  effisct  of  a  Christian  civilization  —  but  in  office, 
work  and  spirit,  an  ambassador  for  Christ,  to  preach  the 
gospel  where  it  has  not  been  preached.  And,  whatever  may 
be  said  with  respect  to  pastors,  it  is  true  of  the  missionary, 
that  he  is  to  keep  himself  as  free  as  possible  from  entangle- 
ments with  literature,  science  and  commerce,  and  with  ques- 
tions of  church  government,  politics  and  social  order.     For, 

2.  The  object  and  work  of  the  missionary  are  preeminently 
spiritual. 

His  embassy  and  message  are  as  really  from  the  other 
world,  as  if  he  were  an  angel  from  heaven.  He  w  ho  devotes 
himself  to  the  work  of  foreign  missions,  comes  thereby  under 
peculiar  engagements  and  obligations.  His  situation  is  in 
some  important  respects  peculiar,  compared  with  that  of  all 
others.  His  sphere  of  action  lies  beyond  the  bounds  of 
his  native  land,  beyond  the  bounds  of  Christendom,  where 
society  and  the  family  and  human  nature  lie  all  in  ruins. 
As  the  great  Originator  and  Lord  of  the  enterprise  came 
from  the  realms  of  heavenly  blessedness  to  this  world 
when  it  was  one  universal  moral  waste,  so  his  representa- 
tives and  ambassadors  have  now  to  go  from  those  portions 
of  the  earth  that  have  been  illuminated  by  his  gospel  to 
regions  that  are  as  yet  unvisited  by  these  benign  influences. 
They  are  therefore  required  preeminently  to  renounce  the 
world.  From  the  nature  of  the  case,  they  make  a  greater 
sacrifice  of  worldly  blessings,  than  their  brethren  at  home 
can  do,  however  much  disposed.  They  forsake  their  native 
land  and  the  loved  scenes  of  their  youthful  days.  Oceans 
separate  them  from  their  relatives  and  friends.  They  en- 
counter torrid  heats  and  strange  diseases.  They  traverse 
pathless  wilds,  and  are  exposed  to  burning  suns  and  chilling 
night-damps,  to  rain  or  snow.  Yet  these  things,  when  in 
their  most  repulsive  forms,  are  reckoned  by  missionaries  as 
4# 


42  THE    THEORY    OF   MISSIONS 

the  least  of  the  trials  appertaining  to  their  vocation.  The 
foreign  missionary's  greatest  sacrifices  and  trials  are  social 
and  religious.  It  is  here  that  he  has  a  severity  of  trial, 
which  even  the  domestic  missionary  ordinarily  cannot  have. 
Whatever  the  devoted  servant  of  Christ  upon  the  frontiers 
may  endure  for  the  present,  he  sees  the  waves  of  a  Christian 
civilization  not  far  distant  rolling  onward,  and  knows  that 
there  will  soon  be  all  around  him  gospel  institutions  and  a 
Christian  community.  But  it  is  not  so  with  the  foreign  mis- 
sionary. It  requires  great  strength  of  faith  in  Christ  for  him 
to  look  at  his  rising  family,  and  then  with  unruffled  feelings 
towards  the  future.  True,  he  sees  the  gospel  taking  hold  of 
minds  and  hearts  in  consequence  of  his  ministry,  and  souls 
converted  and  reconciled  to  God ;  he  gathers  churches ;  he 
sees  around  him  the  germs  of  a  future  Christian  civilization. 
But  then,  owing  to  the  imperfect  and  disordered  state  of 
society  in  heathen  communities,  he  dares  not  anticipate  so 
much  social  advancement  for  two  or  three  generations  to 
come,  as  would  make  it  pleasant  to  think  of  leaving  his  chil- 
dren among  the  people  for  whose  spiritual  well-being  he 
delights  to  spend  his  own  strength  and  years.  And  then  his 
heart  yearns  ofttimes  to  be  braced  and  cheered  by  social 
Christian  fellowship  of  a  higher  order  than  he  finds  among 
his  converts  from  heathenism.  It  is  not  the  "  flesh-pots  of 
Egypt "  he  looks  back  upon,  nor  any  of  the  pleasant  things 
that  used  to  gratify  his  senses  in  his  native  land ;  but  he  does 
sometimes  think  of  the  kindred  spirits  he  would  find  in  that 
land,  and  of  the  high  intellectual  and  spiritual  fellowship  he 
would  enjoy  in  their  society,  and  how  it  would  refresh  and 
strengthen  his  own  mind  and  heart.  Often  there  is  a  feeling 
of  weakness  and  faintness  arising  from  the  want  of  such  fel- 
lowship, which  is  the  most  painful  part  of  his  sufierings. 
The  foreign  missionary  is  obliged,  indeed,  to  act  preeminently 
upon  the  doctrine  of  a  future  life,  and  of  God's  supreme  and 
universal  government,  and  to  make  a  deliberate  sacrifice  of 
time  for  eternity,  and  of  earth  for  heaven.  And  this  he  does 
as  an  act  of  duty  to  his  Redeemer,  for  the  sake  of  extending 
the  influence  of  his  redemption,  and  bringing  its  reconciling 
and  saving  power  to  bear  upon  the  myriads  of  immortal  souls 
dwelling  beyond  the  utmost  verge  of  the  Christian  church. 

And  thus  the  foreign  missionary  is  driven,  as  it  were,  by 
the  very  circumstances  of  his  position,  as  well  as  led  by  his 
commission  and  his  convictions  of  duty,  to  concentrate  his 


TO    THE   HEATHEN.  43 

attention  and  energies  upon  the  soul,  ruined  thougli  im- 
mortal. And  truly  it  is  a  vast  and  mighty  ruin  he  beholds — 
more  affecting  to  look  upon  in  the  light  of  its  own  proper 
eternity,  than  would  be  the  desolation  of  all  the  cities  in  the 
world.  It  is  too  vast  a  ruin  for  a  feeble  band  to  attempt  the 
restoration  of  every  part  at  once.  As  Nehemiah  concentrated 
his  energies  upon  rebuilding  the  walls  of  the  city  of  his 
fathers,  rightly  concluding  that  if  the  walls  were  rebuilt  and 
threw  their  encouraging  protection  around,  the  other  portions 
of  the  city  would  rise  of  course ;  so  the  missionary,  as  a 
thoughtful  and  wise  man,  sets  himself  to  reconcile  the  alien- 
ated heart  to  God,  believing  that  that  point  being  gained,  and 
the  principle  of  obedience  implanted,  and  a  highly  spiritual 
religion  introduced,  a  social  renovation  will  be  sure  to  follow. 
He  considers  not,  therefore,  so  much  the  relations  of  man  to 
man,  as  of  man  to  God ;  not  so  much  the  relations  and  inter- 
ests of  time,  as  those  of  eternity ;  not  so  much  the  intellec- 
tual and  social  degradation  and  debasement,  the  result  of 
barbarism  or  of  iron-handed  oppression,  as  the  alienation  and 
estrangement  of  the  heart  of  man  from  his  Maker,  and  the 
deadly  influence  of  hateful  and  destroying  passions  upon  his 
soul.  As  when  a  house  is  burning  in  the  dead  of  night,  our 
first  and  great  concern  is  not  for  the  house,  but  for  the  sleep- 
ing dwellers  within ;  so  the  missionary's  first  and  great  con- 
cern is  for  the  soul,  to  save  it  from  impending  wrath. 

And  the  means  he  employs  in  this  ministry  of  reconcilia- 
tion, are  as  single  and  spiritual  as  the  end  he  has  in  view. 

He  preaches  the  cross  of  Christ  The  apostle  Paul  de- 
clares that  this  was  his  grand  theme.  And  it  is  remarkable 
how  experience  is  bringing  modern  missionaries  to  the  same 
result.  Their  grand  agent  is  oral  instruction;  their  grand 
theme  is  the  cross.  And  now,  perhaps,  not  less  than  in  the 
days  of  the  apostles,  the  Holy  Spirit  appears  to  restrict  his 
converting  influences  among  the  heathen  chiefly  to  this  spe- 
cies of  agency,  and  to  this  grand  theme.  Excepting  in  the 
schools,  the  usefulness  of  books  is  chiefly  with  those  whose 
hearts  have  been  in  some  measure  moved  and  roused  by  the 
preached  word.  It  appears  to  be  the  will  of  the  great  Re- 
deemer, who  came  in  person  to  begin  the  work,  that  his 
salvation  shall  every  where  be  proclaimed  in  person  by  his 
ambassadors,  and  that  his  message  of  grace  shall  have  all  the 
impressiveness  of  look,  and  voice,  and  manner,  which  they 
are  able  to  give  it.     After  the  manner  of  their  illustrious 


44  THE   THEORY   OF  MISSIONS 

predecessor,  they  must  teach  publicly,  and  from  house  to 
house,  and  warn  every  one  night  and  day  with  tears.  The 
necessity  of  this,  in  order  to  reconcile  rebellious  men  to  God, 
has  not  been  diminished  by  the  multiplication  of  books  through 
the  press.  Well-authenticated  cases  of  conversion  among 
pagans,  by  means  of  books  alone,  —  not  excepting  even  the 
Scriptures,  —  are  exceedingly  rare.  By  the  divine  appoint- 
ment, there  must  also  be  the  living  preacher ;  and  his  preach- 
ing must  not  be  "  with  the  wisdom  of  words,  lest  the  cross  of 
Christ  should  be  made  of  none  effect 

You  see,  then,  brethren,  the  high  spiritual  calling  of  the 
missionary.  At  the  very  threshold  of  his  work,  he  is  re- 
quired, in  a  preeminent  degree,  to  renounce  the  world.  His 
message,  wherein  lies  his  duty  and  all  his  hope  of  success,  is 
concerning  the  cross  of  Christ ;  and  the  object  of  it  is  to 
restore  the  lost  spiritual  relation  between  man  and  God. 
The  impression  he  is  designing  to  make  is  directly  upon  the 
soul.  And  his  work  lies  so  altogether  out  of  the  common 
range  of  worldly  ideas,  and  even  of  the  ideas  of  many  pro- 
fessed Christians,  that  multitudes  have  no  faith  in  it ;  it  is  to 
them  like  a  root  out  of  a  dry  ground,  and  they  see  no  form 
nor  comeliness  in  it,  and  nothing  that  should  lead  them  to 
desire  it.  Nor  is  it  until  the  civilizing  results  come  out,  that 
these  unsanctified,  or  very  partially  sanctified  persons  can 
give  the  missionary  work  any  degree  of  their  respect. 

The  necessity  of  connecting  a  system  of  education  with 
modern  missions,  is  not  inconsistent  with  the  view  we  have 
taken  of  the  true  theory  of  missions  to  the  heathen.  The 
apostles  had  greatly  the  advantage  of  us  in  procuring  elders, 
or  pastors  for  their  churches.  In  their  day  the  most  civilized 
portions  of  the  world  were  heathen  —  as  if  to  show  the 
weakness  of  mere  human  learning  and  wisdom ;  and  the 
missionary  labors  of  the  apostles  and  their  associates,  — 
so  far  as  we  have  authentic  accounts  of  them,  —  were  in 
the  best  educated,  and  in  some  respects  highly  educated 
portions  of  the  earth.  Wlierever  they  went,  therefore,  they 
found  mind  in  comparatively  an  erect,  intelhgent,  reasoning 
posture  ;  and  it  would  seem  that  men  could  easily  have  been 
found  among  their  converts,  who,  with  some  special  but  brief 
instruction  concerning  the  gospel,  would  be  fitted  to  take  the 
pastoral  care  of  churches.  But  it  appears,  that,  until  schools 
expressly  for  training  pastors  were  in  operation,  —  as  ere 
long  they  were  at  Alexandria,  CiEsarea,  Antioch,  Edessa, 


TO    THE   HEATHEN.  45 

and  elsewhere,  —  it  pleased  God  essentially  to  aid  in  qualify- 
ing men  for  the  office  of  pastors  by  a  miraculous  agency ;  the 
Holy  Ghost  exerting  upon  them  a  supernatural  influence,  by 
which  their  understandings  were  strengthened  and  spiritually 
illuminated,  and  they  gifted  with  powers  of  utterance. 

But,  at  the  present  time,  the  whole  civilized  world  is  at 
least  nominally  Christian,  and  modern  missions  must  be 
prosecuted  among  uncivilized,  or  at  least  partially  civilized 
tribes  and  nations,  from  which  useful  ideas  have  in  great 
measure  perished.  Even  in  those  heathen  nations  which 
make  the  greatest  pretensions  to  learning,  as  in  India,  we 
find  but  little  truth  existing  on  any  subject.  Their  history, 
chronology,  geography,  astronomy,  —  their  notions  of  matter 
and  mind,  and  their  views  of  creation  and  providence,  religion 
and  morals,  —  are  exceedingly  destitute  of  truth.  And  yet 
it  is  not  so  much  a  vacuity  of  mind  here  that  we  have  to 
contend  with,  as  it  is  plenitude  of  error  —  the  unrestrained 
accumulations  and  perversions  of  depraved  intellect  for  three 
thousand  years.  But  among  savage  heathens,  it  is  vacuity  of 
mind,  and  not  2i  plenitude^  we  have  to  operate  upon.  For, 
the  savage  has  few  ideas,  sees  only  the  objects  just  about 
him,  perceives  nothing  of  the  relations  of  things,  and  occupies 
his  thoughts  only  about  his  physical  experiences  and  wants. 
He  knows  nothing  of  geography,  astronomy,  history,  —  noth- 
ing of  his  own  spiritual  nature  and  destiny,  and  nothing  of  God. 

In  these  circumstances,  and  without  the  power  of  confer- 
ring miraculous  gifts,  modern  missionaries  are  constrained  to 
resort  to  education,  in  order  to  procure  pastors  for  their 
churches.  They  select  the  most  promising  candidates,  and 
take  the  usual  methods  to  train  them  to  stand  alone  and  firm 
in  the  gospel  ministry,  and  to  be  competent  spiritual  guides 
to  others.  This  creates,  it  will  be  perceived,  a  necessity  for 
a  system  of  education  of  greater  or  less  extent  in  each  of  the 
missions,  embracing  even  a  considerable  number  of  elemen- 
tary schools.  The  whole  is  designed  to  secure,  through  the 
divine  blessing,  a  competent  native  ministry,  who  shall  aid 
missionaries  in  their  work,  and  at  length  take  their  places. 
The  schools,  moreover,  of  every  grade,  are,  or  ought  to  be 
so  many  preaching  places,  so  many  congregations  of  youth,  to 
whom,  often  with  parents  and  friends  attending,  the  gospel  is 
more  or  less  formally  proclaimed. 

I  have  thus  endeavored,  my  brethren,  to  set  before  you 
the  foreign  missionary  enterprise,  in  what  I  conceive  to  be 


46  THE   THEORY    OF   MISSIONS 

its  true  scriptural  character ;  as  an  enterprise,  the  object  of 
which,  and  the  sole  object,  is  the  reconciling  of  rebellious 
men  in  heathen  lands  to  God. 

And  what  is  true  of  the  individual  missionary,  is  of  course 
equally  true  of  the  Missionary  Society,  which  directs  his  la- 
bors, and  is  the  medium  of  his  support.  The  Society  sends 
forth  men  to  be  evangelists,  rather  than  permanent  pastors  ; 
and  when  pastors  are  required  by  the  progress  and  success  of 
the  work,  it  seeks  them  among  native  converts  on  the  ground. 
And  herein  it  differs  from  the  appropriate  usages  of  the 
Home  Missionary  Society,  which,  operating  on  feeble  church- 
es within  Christian  communities,  or  in  districts  that  are  soon 
to  be  covered  with  a  Christian  civilization  of  some  sort,  sends 
forth  its  preachers,  all  to  become  settled  pastors  as  soon  as 
possible.  The  foreign  missionary  work  is,  in  fact,  a  vast 
evangelism  ;  with  conquest,  in  order  to  extend  the  bounds  of 
the  Redeemer's  kingdom,  for  its  object ;  having  as  little  to  do 
with  the  relations  of  this  life,  and  the  things  of  the  world  and 
sense,  and  as  few  relations  to  the  kingdoms  of  this  world,  as 
is  consistent  with  the  successful  prosecution  of  its  one  grand 
object  —  the  restoring,  in  the  immortal  soul  of  man,  of  that 
blessed  attraction  to  the  Centre  of  the  Spiritual  Universe 
which  was  lost  at  the  fall. 

This  method  of  conducting  foreign  missions,  beside  its 
evident  conformity  to  Scripture,  is  supported  by  various 
weighty  considerations. 

1.  It  is  the  only  method  that,  as  a  system  of  measures, 
will  commend  itself  strongly  to  the  consciences  and  respect  of 
mankind. 

The  first  mission  sent  forth  under  the  care  of  the  American 
Board,  was  such  a  mission.  And  it  was  sent  to  the  subjects 
of  a  nation,  with  which  our  country  was  then  unhappily  at 
war.  But  the  missionaries  were  regarded  on  all  hands  as 
belonging  preeminently  to  a  kingdom  not  of  this  world,  and 
having  an  object  of  a  purely  spiritual  nature.  And  when, 
notwithstanding  this,  the  policy  of  the  East  Indian  govern- 
ment would  have  sent  them  away,  it  was  this  that  gave 
convincing  and  overwhelming  force  to  the  following  appeal 
made  by  our  brethren  to  the  Governor  of  Bombay : 

"  We  entreat  you  by  the  spiritual  miseries  of  the  heathen, 
who  are  daily  perishing  before  your  eyes,  and  under  your 
Excellency's  government,  not  to  prevent  us  from  preaching 
Christ  to  them.    We  entreat  you  by  the  blood  of  Jesus  which 


TO    THE    HEATHEN.    m"2  47 

he  shed  to  redeem  them,  —  as  ministers  of  Him,  who  has  all 
power  in  heaven  and  earth,  and  who  with  his  farewell  and 
ascending  voice  commanded  his  ministers  to  go  and  teach  all 
nations,  we  entreat  you  not  to  prohibit  us  from  teaching  these 
heathen.  By  all  the  principles  of  our  holy  religion,  by 
which  you  hope  to  be  saved,  we  entreat  you  not  to  hinder  us 
from  preaching  the  same  religion  to  these  perishing  idolaters. 
By  all  the  solemnities  of  the  judgment  day,  when  your  Ex- 
cellency must  meet  your  heathen  subjects  before  God's  tri- 
bunal, we  entreat  you  not  to  hinder  us  from  preaching  to 
them  that  gospel,  which  is  able  to  prepare  them,  as  w^ell  as 
you,  for  that  awful  day.'' 

Nothing  but  a  consciousness  of  the  high  spirituality  of 
their  object,  and  the  impossibility  of  connecting  it  with  ques- 
tions of  a  secular  nature,  imparted  boldness  to  our  brethren 
to  make  this  appeal,  and  gave  it  favor  and  efficacy  in  the 
high  places  of  power.  And  it  is  this,  which  lately  preserved 
our  brethren  on  Mount  Lebanon  harmless  amid  the  fury  and 
carnage  of  a  civil  war.  And  this  it  is  that  imparts  a  degree 
of  inviolability  to  the  persons  and  efforts  of  Protestant  her- 
alds of  the  cross  among  all  the  nations  which  respect  their 
religion.  It  is  the  grand  predominance  of  the  spiritual  in 
their  characters  and  pursuits,  showing  that  they  really  do  be- 
long to  a  kingdom  not  of  this  world,  and  are  not  to  be  involved 
in  the  conflicting  relations  and  interests  of  earthly  commu- 
nities. English  statesmen  in  India  acknowledge,  that  the 
general  prevalance  of  Christianity  in  that  country  would  at 
length  make  it  impossible  for  their  nation  to  hold  the  country 
in  subjection,  and  yet  they  encourage  the  labors  of  the  mis- 
sionary. This  they  do  because  the  missionary's  object,  — 
whatever  be  the  known  tendency  of  his  labors,  —  is  not  to 
change  the  civil  relations  of  the  people,  but  to  give  them  the 
gospel  and  save  their  souls  ;  and  because  these  statesmen  are 
convinced  in  their  consciences,  that  this  is  an  object  of  un- 
questionable benevolence  and  obligation,  for  which  Christ 
died,  for  which  the  ministry  was  instituted,  —  which  at  this 
day  is  to  be  countenanced  and  encouraged,  at  all  events,  by 
every  man  claiming  the  name  of  a  Christian ;  and  which,  — 
however  humbling  it  shall  prove  in  its  results  to  avaricious 
and  ambitious  nations,  —  cannot  be  otherwise  than  beneficial 
on  the  broad  scale  of  the  world,  and  to  the  great  family  of 
man. 

2.  This  method  of  conducting  missions  is  the  only  one,  on 


48  THE    THEORY    OF   MISSIONS 

which  missionaries  can  be  obtained  in  large  numbers,  and 
kept  cheerfully  in  the  field. 

For  objects  that  are  not  spiritual  and  eternal,  men  will  sel- 
dom renounce  the  world  for  themselves  and  their  families,  as 
missionaries  must  do.  Mere  philosophers  have  never  gone  as 
missionaries ;  and  seldom  do  mere  philanthropists  go  into  the 
heathen  world,  nor  would  they  remain  long,  should  they  hap- 
pen to  go.  Nor  will  a  merely  impulsive,  unreflective  piety 
ever  bring  about  a  steady,  persevering,  laborious,  self-denying 
mission.  It  generally  gives  out  before  the  day  for  embarka- 
tion, or  retires  from  the  field  before  the  language  is  acquired, 
and  the  battle  fairly  commenced.  Nothing  but  the  grand  ob- 
ject of  reconciling  men  to  God,  with  a  view  to  their  eternal 
salvation,  and  the  happiness  and  glory  thus  resulting  to  Christ's 
kingdom,  will  call  any  considerable  number  of  missionaries 
into  the  foreign  field,  and  keep  them  cheerfully  there.  And 
it  is  necessary  that  this  object  be  made  to  stand  out  alone,  in 
its  greatness  and  majesty,  towering  above  all  other  objects,  as 
the  hoary-headed  monarch  of  the  Alps  towers  above  the  in- 
ferior mountains  around  him.  It  is  not  fine  conceptions  of 
the  beautiful  and  orderly  in  human  society  that  wiU  fire  the 
zeal  of  a  missionary ;  it  is  not  rich  and  glowing  conceptions 
of  the  life  and  duties  of  a  pastor ;  it  is  not  broad  and  ele- 
vated views  of  theological  truth,  nor  precise  and  comprehen- 
sive views  of  the  relations  of  that  truth  to  moral  subjects.  It 
is  something  more  than  all  this,  often  the  result  of  a  different 
cast  of  mind  and  combination  of  ideas.  The  true  missionary 
character  indeed  is  based  upon  a  single  sublime  conception  — 
that  of  reconciling  immortal  souls  to  God,  To  gain  this  with 
an  effective  practical  power,  the  missionary  needs  himself  to 
have  passed  from  death  unto  life,  and  to  have  had  deep  ex- 
perience of  his  own  enmity  to  God  and  hell-desert,  and  of  the 
the  vast  transforming  agency  of  the  reconciling  grace  of  God 
in  Christ.  As  this  conception  has  more  of  moral  greatness 
and  sublimity  in  it  than  any  other  that  ever  entered  the  mind 
of  man,  no  missionary  can  attain  to  the  highest  elevation  and 
dignity  of  his  calling,  unless  he  have  strong  mental  power 
and  a  taste  for  the  morally  sublime.  This  the  apostle  Paul 
had.  What  conceptions  of  his  ofiice,  and  work,  and  of  spir- 
itual things  animated  the  great  soul  of  that  apostle !  ^'  Now, 
then,  we  are  ambassadors  for  Christ ;  as  though  God  did 
beseech  you  by  us,  we  pray  you  in  Christ's  stead,  be  ye  re- 
conciled to  God.''    "  Eye  hath  not  seen,  nor  ear  heard,  neither 


TO    THE    HEATHEN.  49 

have  entered  into  the  heart  of  man  the  things  which  God 
hath  prepared  for  them  that  love  him."  "  O,  the  depth  of 
the  riches  both  of  the  wisdom  and  knowledge  of  God." 
"  Able  to  comprehend  with  all  saints  what  is  the  breadth,  and 
length,  and  depth,  and  height,  and  to  know  the  love  of  Christ, 
which  passeth  knowledge." 

To  make  persevering  and  useful  missionaries,  however,  it 
is  not  necessary  that  the  power  of  thought  and  of  spiritual 
apprehension  should  come  nearly  up  to  that  of  the  apostle 
Paul.  But  there  should  be  a  similar  cast  of  mind,  similar 
views  and  feelings,  and  a  similar  character.  There  should 
be  a  steady  and  sober,  but  real  enthusiasm,  sustained  by  a 
strongly  spiritualized  doctrinal  experience,  and  by  the  "  powers 
of  the  world  to  come,"  intent  upon  reconciling  men  to  God 
from  a  conviction  of  its  transcendent  importance. 

Such  men  must  compose  the  great  body  of  every  mission, 
or  it  will  not  be  worth  supporting  in  the  field ;  and  the  only 
way  such  men  can  be  induced  to  engage  in  the  work,  is  by 
having  the  idea  of  spiritual  conquest,  through  the  cross  of 
Christ,  the  predominant  and  characteristic  idea  of  the  enter- 
prise. That  will  attract  their  attention  while  they  are  pre- 
paring for  the  ministry ;  that  will  enlist  their  consciences  and 
draw  their  hearts ;  that  will  constrain  them  to  refuse  every 
call  to  settle  at  home,  however  inviting ;  and  if  they  have 
learning  and  eloquence,  that  will  lead  them  the  more  to  desire 
to  go  where  Christ  has  not  been  preached,  where  useful  talent 
of  every  kind  will  find  the  widest  scope  for  exercise. 

Nor  will  any  other  scheme  of  missions,  that  was  ever  de- 
vised, keep  missionaries  cheerfully  in  the  field.  It  is  only  by 
having  the  eye  intent  on  the  relations  the  heathen  sustain  to 
God,  and  on  their  reconciliation  to  him,  and  by  cultivating 
the  spirit  of  dependence  on  God  and  the  habit  of  looking  to 
him  for  success,  that  the  piety  of  a  mission  can  be  kept  flour- 
ishing, its  bond  of  union  perfect,  its  active  powers  all  in  full, 
harmonious  and  happy  exercise.  And  unless  these  results 
are  secured,  missionaries,  like  the  soldiers  of  a  disorganized 
army,  will  lose  their  courage,  their  energy  and  zeal,  their 
serenity  and  health,  and  will  leave  the  field.  Alas  for  a  mis- 
sion, where  the  absorbing  object  of  attention  with  any  of  its 
members  is  anything  else,  than  how  Christ  crucified  shall  be 
preached  to  the  heathen  so  as  most  effectually  to  persuade 
them  to  be  reconciled  to  God. 
5 


50  THE    THEORY    OF    MISSIONS 

3.  This  method  of  conducting  missions  is  the  only  one,  that 
will  subjugate  the  heathen  world  to  God. 

No  other  will  be  found  mighty  to  pull  down  the  strong 
holds  of  the  god  of  this  world.  The  weapons  of  our  warfare 
must  be  spiritual.  The  enemy  will  laugh  at  the  shaking  of  a 
spear,  at  diplomatic  skill,  at  commerce,  learning,  philanthropy, 
and  every  scheme  of  social  order  and  refinement.  He  stands 
in  fear  of  nothing  but  the  cross  of  Christ,  and  therefore  we 
must  rely  on  nothing  else.  With  that  we  may  boldly  pass  all 
his  outworks  and  entrenchments,  and  assail  his  very  citadel. 
So  did  Philip,  when  he  preached  Jesus  as  the  way  of  recon- 
ciliation to  the  eunuch ;  so  did  Peter,  when  preaching  to  the 
centurion ;  so  did  ApoUos,  when  preaching  to  the  Greeks ; 
so  did  Paul,  through  his  whole  missionary  career.  It  is 
wonderful  what  faith  those  ancient  worthies  had  in  the  power , 
of  a  simple  statement  of  the  doctrine  of  salvation  through  ' 
the  blood  of  Christ.  But  they  had  felt  its  power  in  their  ' 
own  hearts,  they  saw  it  on  the  hearts  of  others,  and  they 
found  reason  to  rely  on  nothing  else.  And  the  experience  of 
modern  missions  has  done  much  to  teach  the  in  efficacy  of  all 
things  else,  separate  from  this.  Who  does  not  know,  that 
the  only  cure  for  the  deep-seated  disorders  of  mankind  must 
be  wrought  in  the  heart,  and  that  nothing  operates  there  like 
the  doctrine  of  salvation  by  the  cross  of  Christ  ?  This  is  true 
in  the  most  highly  civilized  comniunities ;  but  perhaps  it  is 
specially  true  among  benighted  heathens.  In  their  deplora- 
ble moral  degradation,  they  need  just  such  an  argument, 
striking  even  the  very  senses,  and  convincing  of  sin,  of  their 
own  lost  state,  and  of  the  love  of  God.  Nothing  else  will  be 
found  like  that  to  bridge  the  mighty  gulf  which  separates  their 
thoughts  from  God  and  the  spiritual  world.  Nothing  else 
will  concentrate,  like  that,  the  rays  of  divine  truth  and  grace 
upon  their  frozen  affections.  With  the  truth,  that  God  so 
loved  the  world  as  to  give  his  only  begotten  Son  that  whoso- 
ever belie veth  on  him  should  not  perish  but  have  everlasting 
life,  we  go  forth  through  the  heathen  world ;  and,  with  any 
thing  like  the  faith  in  its  efficacy  through  the  Holy  Spirit 
which  the  apostles  had,  we  shall  be  blessed  with  much  of 
their  success.  Yes,  my  brethren,  this  is  the  only  effectual 
way  of  prosecuting  missions  among  the  heathen  —  holding  up 

CHRIST    AS    THE    ONLY  SaVIOUR    OF    LOST    SINNERS.       It 

requires  the  fewest  men,  the  least  expense,  the  shortest  time. 
It  makes  the  least  demand  for  learning  in  the  great  body  of 


TO    THE   HEATHEN.  51 

the  laborers.  It  involves  the  least  complication  in  means  and 
measures.  It  is  the  only  course  that  has  the  absolute  promise 
of  the  presence  of  Christ,  or  that  may  certainly  look  for  the 
aid  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  It  keeps  Christ  constantly  before  the 
missionary's  own  soul,  as  an  object  of  intensest  interest  and 
desire,  with  a  vast  sanctifying,  sustaining,  animating  influence 
on  his  own  mind  and  preaching.  It  furnishes  him  with  a 
power  transcending  all  that  human  wisdom  ever  contrived, 
for  rousing  and  elevating  the  soul  of  man  and  drawing  it 
heavenward  —  the  idea  of  love,  infinite  and  infinitely  disin- 
terested, personified  in  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  suffering  to  the 
death  to  save  rebellious  and  ruined  man !  And  if  the  doc- 
trine comes  glowing  from  our  own  experience,  we  shall  not 
fail  to  get  the  attention  of  the  heathen,  and  our  success  among 
them  will  far  exceed  what  we  might  expect  among  gospel- 
hardened  sinners  here  at  home.  I  might  dwell  long  on  the 
history  of  missions,  ancient  and  modern,  in  the  most  satisfac- 
tory illustration  of  this  point,  did  the  time  permit ;  but  it  is 
not  necessary. 

Let  me  add,  that  there  is  no  way  so  direct  and  effectual  as 
this,  to  remove  the  social  disorders  and  evils  that  afl[lict  the 
heathen  world ;  indeed,  there  is  no  other  way.  Every  spe- 
cific evil  and  sin  does  not  need  and  cannot  have  a  separate 
remedy,  for  they  are  all  streams  from  one  fountain,  having  a 
common  origin  in  a  depraved  and  rebellious  heart.  Urge 
home,  then,  the  divinely-appointed  remedy  for  a  wicked  heart ; 
purify  the  fountain ;  let  love  to  God  and  man  fill  the  soul ; 
and  soon  its  influence  will  appear  in  every  department  and 
relation  of  life.  If  reforms  in  religion  and  morals  are  not 
laid  deep  in  the  heart,  they  will  be  deceptive,  and  at  all  events 
transient.  The  evil  spirit  will  return  in  some  form,  and  with 
seven-fold  power.  New  England  owes  her  strong  repug- 
nance to  slavery,  and  her  universal  rejection  of  that  mon- 
strous evil,  to  the  highly  evangelical  nature  of  her  preaching. 
And  were  the  whole  southern  section  of  our  own  land,  or 
even  a  considerable  portion  of  it,  favored  with  such  highly 
evangelical  preaching,  slavery  could  not  there  long  exist. 
But  in  heathen  lands  especially,  an  effective  public  senti- 
ment against  sin,  in  any  of  its  outward  forms,  can  be  created 
no  where,  except  in  the  church ;  and  it  can  be  there  created 
only  by  preaching  Christ  in  his  offices  and  works  of  love  and 
mercy,  with  the  aid  of  the  ordinances  he  has  given  for  the 
benefit  of  his  disciples,  especially  the  sacrament  of  his  supper. 


53  THE   THEORY    OF   MISSIONS 

Thus  at  length,  even  in  barbarous  heathen  lands,  the  force  of 
piety  in  the  hearts  of  the  individual  members  of  the  church 
will  be  raised  above  that  of  ignorance,  prejudice,  the  power 
of  custom  and  usage,  the  blinding  influence  of  self-interest 
falsely  apprehended,  and  the  ridicule  and  frowns  of  an  un- 
godly and  perverse  world.  Indeed,  if  we  would  make  any 
thing  of  converts  in  pagan  lands,  we  must  bring  them  to  the 
ordinances  of  the  gospel,  and  into  the  church,  as  soon  as  they 
give  satisfactory  evidence  of  regeneration  ;  for  they  are  too 
child-like,  too  weak,  too  ignorant  to  be  left  exposed  to  the 
dangers  that  exist  out  of  the  fold,  even  until  they  shall  have, 
learned  all  fundamental  truths.  And  besides,  the  school  of 
Christ  for  young  converts  from  heathenism,  stands  within  the 
fold,  and  there,  certainly,  the  compassionate  Saviour  would 
have  them  all  gathered,  and  carried  in  the  arms,  and  cher- 
ished "  even  as  a  nurse  cherisheth  her  children." 

Finally  ;  This  method  of  conducting  missions  is  the  only 
one,  that  will  unite  in  this  work  the  energies  of  the  churches 
at  home. 

Well  understood,  this  will  unite  the  energies  of  the  churches 
—  so  far  as  Christians  can  be  induced  to  prosecute  missions 
for  the  purpose  of  reconciling  men  to  God.  Making  this  the 
grand  aim  of  missions,  and  pressing  the  love  of  Christ  home 
upon  the  hearts  and  consciences  of  men,  as  the  grand  means 
of  effecting  this,  will  certainly  commend  itself  to  the  under- 
etandings  and  feelings  of  all  intelligent  Christians.  Not  only 
will  a  large  number  of  good  and  faithful  missionaries  be  ob- 
tained, but  they  will  be  supported,  and  prayed  for,  and  made 
the  objects  of  daily  interest  and  concern.  And  how  delight- 
ful it  is  to  think,  that  the  Head  of  the  church  has  been  pleased 
to  make  the  object  and  work  of  missions  so  entirely  simple,  so 
spiritual,  and  so  beyond  the  possibility  of  exception,  that  evan- 
gelical Christians  of  every  nation  and  name  can  unite  in  its 
promotion.  But  if  we  change  the  form  of  the  work,  and 
extend  the  range  of  its  objects  of  direct  pursuit,  and  of  course 
multiply  the  measures  and  influences  by  which  it  is  to  be 
advanced,  we  then  open  the  door  for  honest  and  invincible 
diversities  of  opinion  among  the  best  of  men,  and  render  it 
impossible  that  there  should  be  united  effort,  on  a  scale  at  all 
commensurate  with  the  work,  and  for  a  long  period.  The 
church  militant  becomes  divided  and  weak,  and  is  easily 
paralyzed  and  thwarted  in  its  movements  by  the  combined  and 
united  legions  of  the  Prince  of  darkness. 


TO    THE   HEATHEN.  i'T    3Wl'  53 

It  would  seem,  therefore,  that  missions  to  the  heathen  must 
have  a  highly  spiritual  nature  and  developement,  or  prove 
utterly  impracticable  and  abortive.  Such,  it  is  believed,  are 
the  convictions  of  all  who  have  had  much  experience  in  such 
enterprises.  Unless  missions  have  this  nature  and  develope- 
ment in  a  very  high  degree,  they  will  not  commend  themselves 
strongly  to  the  consciences  and  respect  of  mankind ;  they  will 
neither  command  the  requisite  number  of  laborers,  nor  keep 
them  cheerfully  in  the  field ;  they  will  prove  inadequate  to 
the  subjugation  of  the  heathen  world  to  God ;  nor  will  they 
unite  in  this  great  enterprize  the  energies  and  prayers  of  the 
churches.  In  a  word,  they  will  not  continue  long  to  exist, 
unless  Christ  the  Lamb  of  God  be  in  them,  reconciling  the 
world  unto  himself,  and  causing  his  servants  to  make  the  sal- 
vation of  the  souls  of  men  their  all-commanding  end  and  aim. 
Men  may  resolve  that  it  shall  be  otherwise ;  but  their  pur- 
poses, however  decided,  will  be  in  vain  against  the  unaltera- 
ble laws,  which  God  has  given  the  work  of  missions  to  the 
heathen. 

Beloved  Brother,  —  In  the  system  of  missions,  with 
which  you  are  soon  to  be  connected,  the  aim  has  been,  and  is 
more  and  more,  as  experience  is  acquired,  to  prosecute  the 
work  on  the  principles  advocated  in  this  discourse.  So  far  as 
your  own  influence  is  concerned,  see  that  the  system  be  ren- 
dered still  more  spiritual  in  its  temper,  objects,  and  measures. 
See,  too,  that  your  own  renunciation  of  the  world  is  entire 
before  you  enter  upon  your  self-denying  work,  and  that  it  be 
your  determination  to  know  nothing  among  the  heathen  but 
Christ  and  him  crucified.  Only  by  looking  constantly  unto 
Jesus,  will  you  be  able  to  run  with  patience  the  race  set  be- 
fore you.  As  an  ambassador  of  Christ,  sent  to  plead  with 
men  in  his  stead  to  be  reconciled  to  God,  see  that  you  are 
true  to  your  vocation,  and  faithful  to  your  trust,  and  that  you 
never  descend  from  the  elevated  ground  you  occupy.  What- 
ever oscillations  in  public  sentiment  there  may  be  from  time 
to  time  in  the  Christian  mind  at  home,  you  need  not  fear,  if 
your  character,  preaching,  and  influence  are  formed  on  the 
New  Testament,  that  you  will  be  forgotten  in  the  contribu- 
tions and  prayers  of  God's  people.  At  all  events,  be  faithful 
unto  death,  and  whatever  be  your  lot  here  below,  the  result 
in  eternity  will  be  more  blessed  to  you,  than  it  is  possible  for 
your  mind  now  to  conceive,  or  your  heart  to  desire. 

Fathers  and  Brethren,  —  Let  it  be  our  prayer,  that 
6* 


54  THE    THEORY    OF   MISSIONS  TO    THE    HEATHEN. 

God  will  be  pleased  to  strengthen  our  own  faith  in  the  reali- 
ties of  the  unseen  world.  Then  shall  we  be  better  able  to 
pray  as  we  ought  for  our  missionary  brethren,  that  they  may 
be  intent  on  their  single  but  great  object  of  winning  souls  to 
Christ,  and  be  so  imbued  wdth  the  spirit  of  Christ,  that  his 
image  shall  be  fully  stamped  on  all  their  converts.  Let  us 
urge  upon  our  brethren  among  the  heathen  the  imperative 
duty  of  making  full  proof  of  their  ministry  as  missionaries, 
rather  than  as  pastors  ;  and  let  us  lay  upon  them  "  no  greater 
burden,"  than  the  "  necessary  things  "  appertaining  to  their 
high  and  peculiar  vocation.  We  must  indeed  hold  them  to 
the  principle,  that  they  shall  treat  those  only  as  loyal  subjects 
of  our  infinite  Sovereign,  who  give  evidence  of  hearty  sub- 
mission and  reconciliation  ;  but  we  will  leave  it  to  their  bet- 
ter-informed judgments  to  determine,  —  in  the  remote,  vast, 
and  varied,  and  to  us  almost  unknown  fields  of  their  labors, 
—  what  is  and  what  ought  to  be  satisfactory  evidence  of 
actual  reconciliation.  Then  will  our  brethren  rejoice  in  hav- 
ing a  simple,  well-sustained,  and  glorious  enterprise  before 
them,  and  also  "  for  the  consolation  "  of  the  liberty  conceded 
to  them  by  the  "  elders  "  and  the  "  whole  church."  In  this 
good  old  way,  marked  with  the  footsteps  of  the  apostles, 
there  is  hope  for  the  world,  for  the  whole  world,  that  it  may 
be  reconciled  to  God.  And  when  the  principles  of  love  and 
obedience  are  once  restored  to  men,  and  men  are  at  peace 
with  God,  and  united  to  Him,  then  will  they  be  at  peace 
with  one  another.  Then  wars  will  cease,  and  all  oppression. 
Then  the  crooked  in  human  affairs  shall  be  made  straight 
and  the  rough  places  plain,  the  valleys  shall  be  exalted  and 
the  mountains  and  hills  made  low,  and  the  glory  of  the  Lord 
shall  be  revealed,  and  all  flesh  see  it  together. 

"  In  one  sweet  symphony  of  praise, 
Gentile  and  Jew  shall  then  unite ; 
And  Infidelity,  ashamed. 

Sink  in  the  abyss  of  endless  night. 

"  Soon  Afric's  long-enslaved  sons . 

Shall  join  with  Europe's  polished  race, 
To  celebrate,  in  different  tongues, 
The  glories  of  redeeming  gi'ace. 

"  From  east  to  west,  from  north  to  south, 
Emanuel's  kingdom  shall  extend ; 
And  every  man,  m  every  face, 
Shall  meet  a  orother  and  a  friend." 


JESUS  THE  GREAT  MISSIONARY. 

BY 

REV.  EDWARD    N,   KIRK. 

Tor  the  Son  of  man  is  come  to  seek  and  to  save  that  which  was  lost.  —  Lukb  19 :  10. 

The  meaning  of  that  word  —  lost,  is  the  separating-point 
from  which  diverge  the  most  important  sentiments,  that 
divide  the  nominally  Christian  world.  It  affects  essentially 
all  our  religious  opinions,  character,  and  career.  If  one  sees 
in  it  but  a  flourish  of  rhetoric,  or  an  oriental  exaggeration ; 
then  his  conscience  slumbers  ;  then  his  sympathies  feel  no 
deep  appeal  from  man's  condition  and  prospects  ;  and  then 
his  heart  lies  chilled  beneath  the  cold  moon-beams  of  the 
gospel.  For,  to  him  that  gospel  opens  on  the  one  hand,  no 
thrilling  scene  of  spirits  fallen,  defiled,  benighted  and  ac- 
cursed ;  and  on  the  other,  no  enrapturing  display  of  love,  of 
condescension  lower  than  angels  had  dared  anticipate,  of 
mercy's  immeasurable  sacrifice  made  despite  of  base  in- 
gratitude and  of  parricidal  rebellion.  To  him  the  gospel  is  a 
description  of  goodness  similar  to,  but  no  greater  than  that 
displayed  in  the  ordinary  gifts  of  Providence.  Such  is  the 
theory  and  such  are  the  fruits  of  the  skeptical  and  semi- 
skeptical  philosophy.  Wherever  it  is  accepted,  the  distinc- 
tion between  man's  native  powers  and  sensibilities  and  his 
actual  character  as  a  subject  of  God's  government,  is  lost 
eight  of ;  human  nature  is  admired  almost  to  adoration  ;  re- 
pentance, as  that  deep  emotion  which  breaks  the  heart  and 
bruises  the  spirit,  is  despised.  Thus,  whatever  other  "  sacri- 
fices "  are  offered  to  God,  among  them  is  not  found  a  "  broken 
heart  and  a  bruised  spirit.^  Thus  it  acts  on  the  personal 
piety  of  the  individual,  and  thus  it  affects  his  influence  on 
others.    In  himself  he  finds  more  to  admire  than  to  con- 


6Q  JESUS    THE    GREAT   MISSIONARY. 

demn  ;  when  he  discovers  wrong,  he  considers  it  superficial ; 
no  deep  and  painful  sense  of  spiritual  necessity  correspond- 
ing to  descriptions  in  the  Bible,  is  felt  by  him.  Calm  self- 
complacency  is  indeed  the  very  feeling  which  he  seeks  to 
derive  from  religion.  And  if  he  sees  anything  else  and 
opposite  in  others,  it  causes  only  contempt  or  pity.  He 
approves  not  their  deep  and  pungent  convictions  of  guilt  and 
misery,  nor  comprehends  how  the  atoning  sacrifice  of  the 
Lamb  of  God  is  needed  for  his  guilt,  and  the  regenerating 
power  of  the  Holy  Ghost  for  his  depravity. 

Their  fundamental  error  is  on  two  points,  and  respects  two 
aspects  of  human  nature  —  man  as  the  subject  of  law;  and 
man  in  his  capacity  for  a  spiritual  life. 

Their  views  of  man's  guilt  and  ill-desert  are  comparatively 
slight.  They  allow  him  to  be  satisfied  with  the  contempla- 
tion of  his  own  excellence,  his  intellectual  qualities,  his  social 
feelings,  his  moral  sensibilities.  They  hold  in  abhorrence 
only  certain  crimes  against  civil  laws  and  social  order.  They 
excite  and  they  allow  no  deep  and  heart-breaking  convic- 
tions for  spiritual  offences ;  they  arouse  no  fears  of  endless 
punishment.  They  go  to  the  neglecter  of  religion,  and  per- 
suade him  to  become  more  attentive  to  religious  truths  and 
duties.  They  go  to  the  Pagan,  and  urge  him  to  embrace  a 
purer  rite,  a  more  rational  theology.  Their  appeals  are  not 
made  to  the  conscience,  to  start  it  from  deep  slumbers,  and 
make  it  echo  the  thunders  of  coming  judgment.  And  when 
they  find  it  awakened,  they  proclaim  to  it  no  peace-speaking 
sacrifice  for  sin  ;  in  fact,  they  censure  this  very  alarm,  and 
attribute  it  to  ignorance  and  error.  Hence  they  find  nothing 
in  man's  prospects  to  enlist  deeply  their  own  solicitude. 
Hence  they  accord  not  with  us  in  our  endeavors  to  awaken  a 
slumbering  world  by  strong  appeals  to  make  it  hear  —  amid 
what  they  call  its  innocent  amusements  and  occupations  — 
the  voice  of  an  insulted  Deity,  of  an  outraged  Father,  of  the 
threatening  majesty  of  Heaven. 

Thus  we  differ  from  them  in  our  estimate  of  the  extent  and 
purity  of  the  precepts  of  the  divine  law.  We  consider  all 
the  world  as  its  guilty  violators  ;  we  consider  all  human  virtue 
in  man's  unconverted  state,  as  truly  sin ;  and  the  more  sinful, 
the  more  it  becomes  an  object  of  admiration  to  its  possessor, 
and  an  occasion  of  undervaluing  the  mediation  and  propitia- 
tory sacrifice  of  the  Son  of  God. 

Equally  antipathetic   are   our  views  of   man's   spiritual 


JESUS    THE    GREAT   MISSIONARY.  ^     57 

character.  Of  the  dignity  of  his  original  character  and  po- 
sition, of  the  noble  character  of  some  of  the  sentiments  of  a 
few,  we  have  as  high  an  estimate  as  any.  But  we  believe 
that  the  spiritual  image  of  God  is  effaced  from  the  human 
soul ;  man  is  fallen,  terribly,  desperately  fallen ;  the  gold  has 
lost  its  lustre.  His  virtues  are  to  us  the  white  exteriors  and 
the  gilded  ornaments  of  the  sepulchre.  His  smiles  are  to  us 
the  more  painful,  as  they  convince  us  that  he  is,  or  tries  to 
be  contented  with  his  state  of  spiritual  poverty,  guilt,  and 
degradation.  In  a  word,  we  consider  man  as  alienated  from 
God;  intellectually  and  physically  alive,  spiritually  dead. 
And  therefore  we  cannot  content  ourselves  by  endeavoring  to 
refine  and  elevate  a  few  of  the  most  highly  favored  of  our 
race ;  we  must  reach  all  men.  They  are  all  wanderers  from 
the  home  of  the  soul,  the  bosom  of  God  ;  and  they  must  all 
be  persuaded  to  return.  The  malady  of  sin  lies  deeply  fixed 
in  the  immortal  part,  the  soul ;  and  therefore  intellectual  ele- 
vation and  social  refinement  do  not  remove  it,  and  have  no 
tendency  to  remove  it.  We  regard  the  gospel  applied  by 
God's  spirit  as  the  sole  remedy.  Christ  is  their  life  ;  Christ, 
the  lamb  of  God  that  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world ;  Christ, 
the  ever-living  intercessor ;  Christ,  the  medium  and  fountain 
of  the  life-giving  Spirit.  The  world  —  all  the  world,  high 
and  low,  princes  and  peasants,  learned  and  ignorant,  virtuous 
and  vicious,  idolaters,  infidels  and  nominal  Christians  —  must 
believe  in  Christ,  or  "  be  damned  ;  "  damned  at  that  tribunal 
where  the  believers  shall  be  pardoned ;  damned  by  the  male- 
diction of  the  Holy  One  who  appears  "  in  the  glory  of  his 
Father,  taking  vengeance  on  them  that  obey  not  the  gospel." 

From  these  different  estimates  of  man  arise,  what  should 
not  arise,  hostile  feelings;  but  hence  arise  also  necessarily, 
our  different  courses  with  regard  to  man.  "With  our  views, 
we  shall  never  be  satisfied  without  the  most  strenuous  efforts 
to  bring  all  mankind  to  repentance  and  faith  in  Christ.  With 
their  views,  they  naturally  look  with  indifference  on  the  ear- 
nestness and  self-denial  of  missionary  life,  and  the  success  of 
missionary  enterprise,  so  far  as  the  work  of  the  Spirit  of  God 
upon  the  heart  is  concerned. 

It  behooves  us  then  to  review  our  premises.  The  sincere 
mind  is  ever  ready  to  ask  —  Am  I  right  ?  We  are  willing 
to  ask  and  wait  candidly  for  the  reply  to  these  questions ;  — 
How  must  I  regard  human  nature,  myself  and  my  fellow- 
men?  What  is  my  highest  duty  with  respect  to  my  im- 
mortal   self,  and  what   with  respect  to  my  fellow  men  ? 


58  JESU3    THE    GREAT   MISSIONARY. 

Nay;  we  are  not  taking  up  this  subject  for  the  first  time. 
We  have  already  decided  and  felt  and  acted  upon  it.  "We 
who  have  embarked  in  the  missionary  enterprise,  are  a 
small  minority  of  the  civilized  world,  perhaps  a  minority  even 
of  the  religious  world.  We  have  spent  large  sums  of  money, 
yea  squandered  wealth,  if  we  are  wrong ;  we  are  still  doing 
it,  and  we  are  arousing  the  churches  to  intenser  feeling  and 
more  liberal  effort.  We  desire  to  consecrate  our  very  selves 
to  this  enterprise.  Life  is  rapidly  passing  away,  and  we  are 
devoting  its  best  hours  and  energies  to  this  work.  Some  of 
our  number  have  severed  every  tie  of  home  and  nation,  have 
adopted  a  life  of  exile  and  privation ;  wisely,  if  our  views 
of  man  are  truth ;  madly  and  miserably,  if  they  are  error. 
We  are  now  assembled  to  sympathize  with  another  who 
has  ventured  his  temporal  all  upon  the  truth  of  our  senti- 
ments. We  together  look  upon  the  situation  of  mankind 
apart  from  the  provisions  of  the  gospel,  and  away  from 
under  its  influences,  as  inconceivably  dreadful  and  desperate. 
Our  souls  are  moved  with  deep  compassion,  our  hearts  are 
oppressed,  as  we  contemplate  his  present  state  and  his  pros- 
pects beyond  this  life.  We  want  to  rush  to  his  rescue.  Are 
we  right  or  are  we  wrong  ?  Are  these  emotions  excited  in 
view  of  truth  and  stern  reality,  or  by  a  delusion  of  our  own 
imaginations  ?  Have  we  yielded  to  the  influence  of  an  un- 
enlightened education ;  or  is  it  in  view  of  facts  that  we  are 
impelled  and  that  we  act  ?  We  desire  truth  and  only  truth. 
We  desire  to  see  things  now,  as  far  as  practicable,  as  we 
shall  see  them,  when  the  illusions  of  time  shall  have  given 
place  to  the  light  of  eternity.  We  have  also  a  desire  to 
vindicate  our  course  to  an  intelligent  world ;  and  if  we  are 
right,  to  become  in  our  turn  the  reprovers  of  its  unbelieving 
indifference.  And  we  may  by  divine  blessing  accomplish 
one  other  good  by  our  meditations  upon  this  subject ;  even 
that  of  guarding  our  hearts  against  the  chills  of  unbelief,  and 
of  quickening  in  them  a  deeper  sympathy,  stronger  zeal  and 
holier  purposes. 

Brethren,  we  spend  this  tender  and  sacred  hour  in  contem- 
plating, devoutly,  Jesus,  the  Great  Missionary.  He  is 
the  Judge  that  ends  the  strife.  He  is  the  Logos,  the  Truth. 
All  his  views  were  truth,  all  his  sentiments  righteousness. 
There  was,  even  in  his  finite  human  nature,  no  error  in  the- 
ory, no  misapprehension  of  facts,  no  exaggerated  impulse,  no 
passion.  He  says  he  came  to  seek  and  to  save  that  which 
is  lost.     That  looks  to  us  like  calling  him  the  Great  Mission- 


JESUS    THE    GREAT   MISSIONARY.  59 

ary,  the  Pattern  of  all  Missionaries,  the  Founder  of  our  mis- 
sionary institutions.  We  go  forth  to  seek  and  to  save  that 
which  is  lost ;  and  we  believe  that  our  views  and  our  course 
are  an  imitation  of  his,  and  an  obedience  to  his  last  com- 
mand, "  Go  ye  into  all  the  world,  and  preach  the  gospel  to 
every  creature." 

We  propose  then  to  examine  the  meaning  of  the  term 
"  lost,"  as  here  employed,  by  the  views  which  Jesus  enter- 
tained of  men,  and  by  his  conduct  toward  them.     By, 

I.  His  estimate  of  man.  What  extent  of  meaning  did 
he  attach  to  the  term  "  lost "  ? 

1.  He  regarded  man  as  a  depraved  and  apostate  spirit. 
Depraved  and  apostate  are  relative  terms,  referring  to  a 
certain  standard  of  perfection  and  excellence.  Man  was 
made  for  great  moral  purposes,  to  conform  to  a  type  of  per- 
fect excellence,  to  attain  great  heights  of  moral  elevation. 
Such  was  in  fact  the  original,  native  tendency  of  his  constitu- 
tion. And  there  is  his  dignity.  Now  if  the  Saviour  con- 
sidered the  present  state  of  man  as  conformed  to  that  type, 
then  he  did  not  regard  him  as  depraved  and  apostate.  Aiid 
happily  we  are  left  to  no  conjectures  here.  We  have  some- 
thing better  too,  than  dry  and  uncertain  etymologies.  When- 
ever we  can  ascertain  what  Jesus  considered  holiness  and  the 
spiritual  life  to  be,  then  we  can  tell  from  oar  own  knowledge 
of  man,  what  he  considered  to  be  his  actual  state.  And  yet 
better,  —  we  may  know  directly  what  opinions  he  had  on  this 
subject.  His  ideas  of  holiness  are  seen  in  his  own  character 
and  actions,  —  of  which  it  might  be  enough  here  to  say,  that 
all  men  consider  them  perfect,  and  yet  totally  unlike  those  of 
any  other  man.  One  has  well  said  of  him ;  "  To  God,  as 
the  source  of  his  spiritual  life,  was  his  soul  ever  turned  ;  and 
this  direction  of  his  mind  was  a  matter  of  indispensable  ne- 
cessity to  him.  It  was  his  meat  and  his  drink  to  do  the  will 
of  his  Father.  Without  uniting  himself  wholly  to  God,  con- 
secrating himself  to  God  unreservedly,  feeling  himself  to  be 
perfectly  one  with  God,  he  could  not  have  lived,  he  could  not 
have  been  at  peace  in  his  spirit  a  single  instant.  By  this 
means  the  morality  of  Jesus  became  perfectly  religious ;  it 
was  not  merely  something  which  flowed  from  a  sense  of  duty, 
it  was  a  holy  sentiment  of  the  heart."  Now  whom  did  Jesus 
regard  as  possessing  that  spiritual  life  which  consists  in  rising 
above  created  good  to  live  in  God,  to  feast  on  his  smile  and 
breathe   the   atmosphere   of  his    love  ?     Was   it  the   poor 


60  JESUS   THE    GREAT   MISSIONARY. 

idolater  of  the  surrounding  pagan  tribes ;  was  it  the  proud, 
sanctimonious  Pharisee,  inwardly  full  of  putrefaction  as  the 
grave  ;  was  it  the  infidel,  sensual  Sadducee,  who  ridiculed 
all  pretensions  to  spiritual  communion  ;  was  it  the  crowd  who 
followed  him,  not  for  truth  and  spiritual  aliment,  but  for 
bread ;  was  it  the  rich  young  ruler,  so  amiable,  so  pure,  so 
sincere,  who  went  away  sorrowful  when  he  learned  that  God 
and  mammon  cannot  be  loved  and  served  together  ;  nay,  was 
it  the  half-converted  Peter,  whom  he  rebuked  as  fearing,  in 
the  spirit  of  Satan,  the  sacrifice  of  self;  or  John  and  James 
who  then  looked,  in  serving  God,  for  the  honors  of  a  tempo- 
ral kingdom  ;  was  it,  in  a  word,  the  being,  of  whom  it  is  re- 
corded, that  Jesus  "  knew  what  was  in  man,"  and  therefore 
trusted  not  himself  to  him  ?  Oh  no !  the  Son  of  God  walked 
like  a  living  man  among  the  tombs ;  and  the  silence  of  the 
second  death  had  reigned  there  forever,  if  his  own  omnipo- 
tent voice  had  not  cried  —  "  Lazarus,  come  forth." 

We  have  another  exhibition  of  the  Saviour's  views  of 
what  constitutes  the  spiritual  life,  in  his  benedictions.  "  Bles- 
sed are  the  poor  in  spirit,  the  pure  in  heart,  the  peace-makers, 
they  who  hunger  and  thirst  after  righteousness,  they  who 
love  him  more  than  parents  and  possessions  ;  nay,  that  for- 
sake all  things,  even  life  itself,  for  His  sake  and  the  gospel's." 
Now,  can  we  believe  that  he  considered  mankind  generally 
in  his  day  or  that  he  considers  the  men  of  this  or  any  other 
period,  as  pure  in  heart,  peace-makers,  seeking  spiritual 
good  with  an  eagerness  like  that  of  the  corporeal  appe- 
tites ;  seeking  their  rest  in  God,  as  the  weary  body  seeks 
its  couch  ;  longing  for  God,  as  the  hunted  hart  pants  for  the 
water  brook,  or  as  the  shipwrecked  mariner  longs  for  morn- 
ing light  ?  Can  mankind  generally  say  sincerely,  "  My  heart 
and  my  flesh  erieth  out  for  the  living  God  ?  "     Impossible. 

Our  Saviour  again  presents  the  standard  of  human  excel- 
lence ;  "  Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy 
heart,  soul,  mind  and  strength,  and  thy  neighbor  as  thyself." 
And  did  he  think  that  idolaters,  the  profane,  the  neglecters 
of  God's  service,  those  who  love  pleasure  more  than  God, 
the  proud,  the  covetous,  the  sensual,  —  did  he  believe  that  they 
were  good,  when  compared  with  that  standard  —  thou  shalt 
love  God  supremely  and  perfectly  ?  Or  the  envious,  ambi- 
tious, fraudulent,  cruel,  tyrannical,  impure  slanderers  ;  do 
they  love  others  as  themselves  ?  Do  they  in  India,  Africa, 
Europe,  America  ?     Did  they  in  any  part  or  age  of  the  world  ? 


I 


JESUS   THE    GREAT    MISSIONARY.  61 

Ask  history.  It  is  indeed  too  generally  the  record  of  the 
powerful.  But  it  shows  what  all  would  do  if  their  circum- 
stances permitted.  And  have  the  powerful  been  good  ? 
Have  their  lives  been  examples  of  piety ;  have  their  ener- 
gies been  consecrated  to  the  public  welfare  ?  There  have 
been  a  Cyrus,  an  Aristides,  a  Joshua,  a  St.  Louis,  an  Alfred. 
But  they  are  the  exceptions.  The  history  of  kingdoms  is  a 
record  of  wars  and  their  horrors,  of  frauds  and  oppressions. 
What  says  the  social  state  of  mankind  ?  Let  the  condition 
of  woman  speak  in  all  the  lands  where  human  nature  has 
acted  out  its  unobstructed  tendencies.  What  is  a  Turkish 
wife,  an  Indian  mother,  a  Hindoo  wddow  ?  Come  home  then 
to  the  criminal  codes  and  criminal  courts  and  criminal  estab- 
lishments of  Christian  America.  Leave  the,  poetry  of  the 
parlor  ;  lay  down  that  enchanting  book  which  enraptures  you 
with  its  visions  of  human  dignity  and  loveliness ;  leave  that 
circle  of  refinement,  where  a  fiavored  few  have  separated 
themselves  from  the  vulgar,  to  enjoy  a  higher  intellectual  and 
social  life  ;  and  come  with  me  out  among  the  mass  of  this 
moving  population.  Let  us  go  into  the  lanes  and  alleys,  the 
alms-houses,  the  hospitals,  the  prisons.  Shrink  not,  admirer 
of  human  nature  !  this  is  man,  godlike  man.  Do  you  know 
that  thousands  of  the  very  children  of  this  city  are  liars, 
thieves,  impure,  profane  ?  And  what  of  the  pagan  world ! 
Oh !  let  the  missionary  tell  you,  who,  having  gone  out  to  make 
common  interest  with  the  heathen,  has  examined  deeply  into 
his  character.  Here  are  nearly  five  hundred  millions  ;  and 
yet  the  partrait  in  the  first  chapter  of  the  epistle  to  the 
Romans  remains  fearfully  accurate.  And  does  this  being, 
man,  remain  as  he  was,  when,  coming  pure  and  perfect  from 
his  Creator's  hands,  he  was  pronounced  very  good?  And 
what  commission  have  diseases  and  death  in  this  fair  world  ? 
Who  opened  the  door  by  which  they  rushed  in  upon  their 
prey  ?  Did  God  make  man  for  this  ?  Tou  must  say,  Yes. 
The  Bible  says,  "  by  sin,  death  entered  into  the  world ;  and 
so  death  passed  upon  all  men,  for  that  all  have  sinned." 
Each  breath  you  draw  marks  the  death  of  three  of  your 
race.  The  first  may  be  the  lovely  bride,  decked  for  the 
altar ;  the  next  the  father  of  a  dependent  family ;  the  next 
the  sovereign,  who  has  been  the  father  of  his  people.  No 
place  is  so  exalted,  none  so  sacred,  that  disease  cannot  invade 
it.  No  tie  is  so  tender  and  so  precious  that  death  will  spare 
it.  And  when  you  visit  the  burial-yard ;  ask  whether  man 
6 


62  JESUS   THE    GREAT   MISSIONARY. 

is  as  God  made  him  ?  Was  he  made  to  be  the  slave  of  Sa- 
tan ;  the  sport  of  tempests  and  the  prey  of  death ;  was  he 
made  for  poverty  and  filth,  for  rags  and  wo  ?  Oh  no  !  he  is 
fallen.  The  race  is  fallen.  If  we  want  another  test,  we 
have  it  in  the  pure  worship  which  Jesus  rendered  the  Father. 
Place  this  by  the  side  of  human  religions.  The  greater  part 
of  them  are  bloody,  and  seem  to  have  preserved  the  tradition, 
that  "without  shedding  of  blood,  is  no  remission"  of  sins. 
But  they  are  also  impure,  and  thus  declare  the  deep  apostacy 
of  man,  when  his  very  religions  remove  him  farther  from  God 
and  holiness.  If  he  makes  a  Jupiter,  he  is  a  monster  of  lust ; 
a  Mars,  he  drives  his  chariot  over  the  dying ;  a  Mercury,  he  is 
chief  of  robbers  ;  a  Juggernaut,  he  feasts  on  mangled  human 
limbs.  And  when  a  pure  revelation  is  given  to  him,  first  in 
a  single  nation,  he  turns  backward  ever  toward  idolatry ;  and 
when  Christianity  is  given  to  the  nations,  they  pervert  and 
pervert  it,  until,  of  the  two  hundred  and  fifty  millions  who 
possess  it,  one  hundred  and  ninety  millions  are  sunk  in  super- 
stition and  idolatry  little  better  than  paganism  itself.  The 
moral  condition  of  France  and  Spain  and  Italy,  the  history 
of  religious  persecutions  conducted  in  the  name  of  Jesus 
Christ,  and  as  the  expansion  of  his  spirit  and  as  obedience  to 
his  precepts,  appear  to  us  sad  confirmations  of  the  truth  of 
our  view,  that  man  is  lost,  because  he  is  a  depraved  and 
apostate  creature. 

We  learn  again  our  Saviour's  estimate  of  men,  in  the 
direct  expression  of  his  views.  And  here  we  are  at  a  loss  to 
select ;  for  the  full  exhibition  of  all  that  is  contained  in  the 
Evangelists  on  this  point,  would  be  but  piling  passage  on 
passage.  He  describes  the  condition  and  prospects  of  man 
in  parables  and  in  simple  historic  language  in  ways  that 
appear  to  us  impossible  to  misapprehend.  If  man  is  an 
apostate  and  depraved  creature,  then  we  shall  expect  to  hear 
that  the  way  to  heaven  is  of  difficult  attainment,  and  entered 
by  but  few.  If  man  is  not  an  apostate,  but  an  innocent,  up- 
right, pure  being,  then  he  has  only  to  obey  his  instincts,  to 
cultivate  his  noble  nature,  and  he  is  holy  and  happy.  It 
surely  connot  be  difficult  to  decide  what  Jesus  thought  on 
that  point.  "  Broad  is  the  road  that  leadeth  to  destruction, 
and  many  go  in  thereat,  while  narrow  is  the  way  that  leadeth 
to  life,  and  few  there  be  that  find  it.  If  any  man  will  come 
after  me,  let  him  "  what  ?  cultivate  his  good  heart  ?  —  no ; 
"  deny  himself."     And  in  how  many  ways  does  he  describe 


JESUS    THE    GREAT    MISSIONARY.  68 

US  as  poor  and  miserable  and  blind,  and  sick  and  weary, 
burdened,  imprisoned,  enslaved,  dead,  exposed  to  endless  de- 
struction. If  not  sick,  we  have  no  need  of  him  ;  if  not 
sinners,  he  has  no  message  to  us,  for  ''  they  that  are  whole 
need  not  a  physician,  but  they  that  are  sick."  In  his  conver- 
sation with  Nicodemus,  he  says  that  we  must  be  regenerated, 
and  that  whoever  is  not,  cannot  be  saved.  And  mark  his 
emphatic  reason  :  "  that  which  is  born  of  the  flesh,  is  flesh." 
By  our  natural  birth,  we  inherit  only  that  which  cannot 
inherit  heaven.  In  the  natural  birth,  there  is  a  terrible  en- 
tailment of  degeneracy ;  and  so  there  needs  a  supernatural 
birth,  a  birth  of  the  Spirit.  With  all  this  in  view,  it  is 
impossible  to  believe  that  Jesus  regarded  man  as  a  refined, 
noble,  elevated  being,  —  as  in  his  present  state,  the  type  of 
perfection.  He  never  says  it,  he  never  intimates  it.  We 
look  in  vain  for  passages  in  all  his  addresses,  as  well  as  in  all 
the  writings  of  his  disciples,  to  find  a  language  or  a  sentiment 
like  that  which  we  constantly  hear  about  the  purity  and 
nobleness  and  virtue  of  individual  men. 

But  in  this  connection  we  cannot  pass  by  the  portrait  of 
man  given  in  the  story  of  the  prodigal  son.  Its  very  object 
was  to  reprove  the  self-righteous  men  who  thought  they  had 
done  no  wrong,  and  had  not  wandered  from  their  father's 
house.  We  cite  this  here  particularly,  because  the  very  term 
whose  meaning  we  seek,  is  the  hinge  of  the  story.  Here 
was  one  lost  to  his  father.  There  is  something  in  the  word 
—  lost,  which  falls  on  our  ear  like  a  death-knell.  It  presents 
to  us  the  twofold  idea  contained  in  this  story,  and  in  the  two 
in  its  context,  —  that  of  disappointment  to  God's  affectionate 
interest  for  us,  and  to  our  own  hopes  of  blessedness.  Ob- 
serve the  word  lost  illustrated  here  three  times.  The  shep- 
herd has  lost  his  sheep,  than  which  nothing  is  dearer  to  him ; 
the  woman  her  means  of  living ;  the  father  his  son.  Observe 
this  picture  of  man ;  a  wanderer  —  a  wanderer  from  home, 
from  God,  from  heaven  and  infinite  love.  The  son  of  a  kind 
and  wealthy  man  feels  the  temptings  of  ambitious  indepen- 
dence, and  yields  to  their  influence.  He  leaves  the  paternal 
roof  to  escape  the  paternal  eye.  He  gathers  all,  and  goes 
into  a  far  country,  to  find  his  happiness.  But  it  was  there 
"  he  began  to  be  in  want."  It  was  there  he  plunged  from 
depth  to  deeper  depths  of  misery.  Poor  young  man !  we 
pity  him  ;  we  blame  him  too.  But  alas !  we  are  speaking  of 
ourselves.     This  is  the  portrait  of  the  race.     Fellow-men, 


64^  JESUS    THE    GREAT    MISSIONARr. 

we  are  in  that  far  country ;  we  are  lost  to  God  and  to  our- 
selves. Yes,  he  says  it ;  —  for  behold  yon  shepherd  ;  what 
does  he  in  the  wild  and  desert  place,  exposing  himself  to 
pains  and  dangers  ?  Oh,  he  comes  to  seek  and  to  save  that 
which  is  lost.  Yes,  we  are  lost  to  God  ;  —  for,  behold  that 
aged  and  injured  father  running  to  meet  the  wandering  boy 
when  yet  a  great  way  off;  falHng  on  his  neck ;  embracing, 
kissing  him,  exclaiming  "  This,  my  son,  was  dead  and  is  alive 
again,  was  lost,  and  is  found ; "  —  lost  to  the  angels ;  for  there 
is  joy  in  heaven  over  one  repenting  sinner.  Our  noble 
faculties,  our  affections  are  lost  to  God ;  for  we  love  him  not, 
praise  nor  serve  him  ;  and  in  place  of  preparing  to  dwell  in 
his  blessed  family,  we  force  him  to  pronounce  and  execute 
upon  us  the  fearful  sentence  of  his  law.  That  young  man 
returned ;  but  not  until  he  was  convinced  of  his  guilt  and 
folly,  not  until  he  felt  that  he  was  in  want.  Had  any  one 
met  him  there,  and  convinced  him  that  he  had  not  wandered  — 
then  he  had  never  returned.  That  young  man  returned ; 
and  heaven  is  to  be  re-peopled  by  these  returning,  repenting 
prodigals ;  —  and  will  there  be  there  any  elder  sons  of 
Adam's  family,  who  have  never  wandered  ?  We  believe  not. 
That  man  is  a  deprived  and  apostate  creature,  is  written  on 
every  line  of  the  Saviour's  biography  and  on  every  syllable 
of  his  instructions.     But, 

2.  He  regarded  man  also  as  a  condemned  criminal. 
According  to  his  saying  to  Nicodemus,  "  He  that  believeth 
not,  is  condemned  already."  This  was  said  in  connection  with 
a  comparison  of  man's  moral  condition  to  the  physical  state 
of  the  Israelites  who  were  bitten  by  the  fiery  serpents.  They, 
says  the  Saviour,  were  to  be  healed  by  looking  at  the  uplifted 
symbol  of  God's  righteous  judgments  against  their  sins ;  so 
we,  who  are  dying  beneath  the  righteous  anger  of  God,  are 
to  be  healed  by  believing  on  Him  who  was  lifted  up  for  us 
on  the  accursed  tree.  But  whoever  believes  not,  remains  in 
his  state  of  condemnation.  This  condemnation  includes  two 
facts  —  that  of  transgression,  and  that  of  punishment. — 
Jesus  did  regard  men  as  sinners.  But  our  ideas  of  sin  are 
superficial  and  unimpressive ;  those  of  Jesus  were  deep  and 
awful.  He  traced  each  outward  sin  to  the  heart,  the  fountain 
of  spiritual  death ;  and  he  detected  sin  in  the  heart,  where 
no  outward  sign  was  given  to  man.  And  he  showed  that  it 
were  better  to  lose  limb  and  life,  reputation  and  each  dear 
interest  of  earth,  rather  than  to  remain  a  sinner ;  for  sin  is 


JESUS    THE    GREAT    MISSIONARY.  65 

the  transgression  of  the  law,  of  God's  holy  law.  It  is  a 
terrible  thing  to  infringe  the  laws  that  control  the  material 
world.  For,  says  a  French  preacher,  "  though  the  sea  should 
burst  its  limits,  and  cover  the  earth  with  a  new  deluge ; 
though  its  furious  waves  should  overturn  and  sweep  away 
every  thing  in  their  passage  ;  though  they  should  roll  down 
with  their  fracas  the  rocks  rent  from  the  mountains,  the 
uprooted  trees,  the  dead  bodies  of  men  and  animals,  and 
should  make  of  our  globe  only  a  watery  waste,  —  the  disorder 
thus  produced  would  not  deserve  to  be  named  by  the  side  of 
that  which  sin  produces.  Though  the  world  should  totter  on 
its  ancient  base,  and  reel  from  its  foundations ;  though  the 
stars  and  their  systems  should  rush  into  wild  disorder,  and 
dash  against  each  other ;  and  the  universe  revert  to  a  more 
frightful  chaos  than  that  from  which  God  brought  it  at  the 
beginning;  this  disorder,  this  overturning  of  all  material 
things,  would  not  deserve  to  be  compared  with  the  disorder 
that  sin  produces."  And  this,  because  the  one  is  the  dis^- 
order  of  ignoble  and  perishable  matter ;  the  other  is  the  ruin 
of  mind.  And  not  only  has  sin  taken  possession  of  the  heart 
of  man,  —  but  without  supernatural  aid,  that  possession  must 
be  indefinitely  permanent.  There  is  no  tendency  in  human 
depravity  towards  self-recovery  and  perfection.  In  all  that 
we  have  known  of  it,  its  course  is  ever  downward,  downward, 
and  forever  downward !  Sin  never  yet  exhausted  itself  in 
this  world,  nor  in  one  heart.  Every  instance  of  recovery 
from  its  dominion  is  called  by  Jesus  the  conquest  of  a  strong 
man  armed  by  a  stronger  than  he.  And  while  man  is  thus  a 
sinner,  a  transgressor  of  law,  he  is  exposed  to  eternal  death. 
If  the  warnings  and  expostulations  of  Christ  do  not  teach 
that,  then  they  are  to  us  without  meaning.  "  Wo  unto  thee, 
Chorazin,  and  to  thee,  Bethsaida;  for  it  shall  be  more 
tolerable  for  Tyre  and  Sidon,  Sodom  and  Gomorrah,  than  for 
you !  And  thou  Capernaum !  exalted  to  heaven,  shalt  be 
thrust  down  to  hell.  What  is  a  man  profited,  if  he  shalt  gain 
the  whole  world,  and  lose  his  own  soul  ?  Or  what  shall 
a  man  give  in  exchange  for  his  soul  ?  There  shall  be 
weeping  and  wailing  and  gnashing  of  teeth.  Dives  after 
death  lifted  up  his  eyes  in  hell,  being  tormented."  The  net 
and  fishes,  the  wise  and  foolish  virgins,  the  wheat  and  tares, 
the  separation  of  the  sheep  and  goats,  the  treatment  of  the 
unfaithful  steward,  all  tell  us  what  he  believes  concerning 
man's  eternal  destiny.  But  nothing  he  uttered  is  more  terri- 
6*    > 


66  JESUS   THE    GREAT   MISSIONARY. 

bl6  than  the  declaration,  that  he  himself  will  say  at  last  to 
the  wicked,  "  Depart,  ye  cursed,  into  everlasting  fire,  pre- 
pared for  the  devil  and  his  angels."  Men  may  close  their 
ears,  and  shut  their  eyes  to  this  ;  but  it  is  the  word  of  God. 
Men  may  refuse  to  hear  it ;  but  there  it  stands,  a  yet  unful- 
filled prophecy,  made  if  possible  more  certain  to  us,  by  the 
past  fulfilment  of  the  others  which  surround  it.  Yes,  as 
certain  as  was  the  destruction  of  Babylon  and  Tyre,  the 
deluge  of  water  and  the  flood  of  fire  on  a  guilty  world ;  as 
certain  and  as  terrible  as  was  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem, 
will  be  the  utterance  and  execution  of  those  terrific  words. 
And  as  idle  and  impotent  will  be  the  scoffs  and  self-reason- 
ings of  this  day,  as  were  those  of  that  day,  to  arrest  the  judg- 
ments of  God.  But  who  can  measure  their  meaning? 
"  Cursed  I "  it  is  terrible  to  be  cursed  by  a  man,  a  wicked 
man,  without  cause ;  but  to  be  cursed  by  a  Father,  by  a 
being  who  never  errs  in  judgment,  a  being  who  never  con- 
demns unjustly,  a  being  who  suffered  to  save  us,  a  being  who 
has  long  expostulated  in  view  of  this  very  judgment,  a  being 
who  commands  the  elements  of  the  universe  to  execute  his 
purposes,  a  being  who  ranks  his  glorious  perfections  to  flash 
conviction  to  the  centre  of  my  guilty  conscience  !  You  say, 
this  is  extravagant ;  but  it  is  scriptural.  You  say,  it  is 
cruel ;  but  whether  is  it  cruelty  to  flatter  and  deceive  and 
hide  impending  danger,  or  to  expose  it  fully  and  earnestly  ? 
Men  are  to  be  cursed.  What  is  this  curse  ?  A  charge  to 
the  universe  to  dry  up  each  fountain  of  delight,  and  open  on 
my  guilty  soul  its  avenging  streams.  What  does  this  curse  ? 
"  It  strips  the  world,  external  and  internal,  of  love  and  sym- 
pathy for  my  poor  heart,  nature  of  its  charms,  earth  of  its 
fruit,  the  heavens  of  their  blessings,  existence  of  its  joys,  and 
dries  up  the  last  drop  of  happiness  in  the  last  fold  of  my 
heart ;"  seals  up  the  door  of  heaven  against  my  spirit,  and 
blots  out  the  star  of  hope.  When  this  terrific  word  falls  from 
the  lips  of  the  blessed  Jesus,  it  forbids  an  angel  wing  ever  to 
flit  by  my  drear  abode  ;  "  it  withers  up  my  soul  to  its  root, 
like  that  unfortunate  tree,  which  the  breath  of  the  Lord  cursed, 
and  of  which  an  Apostle  said  the  next  day  in  astonishment  — • 
Lord,  the  fig-tree  that  thou  cursedst,  is  withered  away." 
What  must  this  curse,  this  banishment  be  ?  No  tongue  can 
tell  —  no  imagination  now  conceive  it.  Christ  has  warned  us 
with  a  solemnity  that  may  well  intimidate  and  arouse.  We 
can  conceive  of  it  as  nothing  less  than  eternal  bjanishment 


JESTJS    THE    GKEAT   MISSIONARY.  67 

from  light  and  life  and  hope,  to  regions  prepared  for  the 
devil  and  his  angels,  where  the  soul  "  shall  be  enveloped  and 
penetrated  with  a  misery  immense,  infinite ;  where  it  shall 
find  nothing  more  in  all  beings,  but  an  universal  hell,  —  a  hell 
within,  a  hell  v»^ithout,  a  hell  in  God  himself/' 

The  Son  of  man  came  to  seek  and  to  save  that  which  is 
lost  —  lost  to  God,  to  itself,  to  heaven,  to  hope,  to  purity  and 
peace  and  love  —  lost  forever  I  One  Scripture  phrase  con- 
centrates the  whole  truth ;  man  lives  ^(deog,  without  God. 
He  was  made  in  the  image  of  God,  made  for  him ;  made 
holy  and  perfect,  filled  with  light  and  pure  affection.  Then 
his  eye  beheld  the  glory  of  God.  Then  he  groped  not 
in  that  darkness  which  now  surrounds  him,  then  he  pined 
not  beneath  the  maladies  and  miseries  and  mortality  which 
now  afflict  him.  I  have  said  we  have  more  exalted  views 
of  man  than  either  the  skeptic  or  semi-skeptic  philosophy 
contains.  We  have.  We  believe  in  his  original  dignity; 
and  we  have  such  views  of  that,  that  man  in  his  present 
state  is  a  source  of  constant  distress  to  us ;  and  we  desire 
perpetually  to  be  proclaiming  in  his  hearing,  the  dignity 
he  has  lost.  We  would  say  perpetually  to  him,  as  we 
should  to  the  degenerate  descendant  of  a  noble  family,  still 
wearing  their  name  and  title,  and  even  imitating  their  lofty 
bearing,  —  "  Shame,  shame  on  thee  !  Thy  name,  thy  palace, 
thy  lordly  mien  are  all  thy  reproach."  We  have  such  exalt- 
ed views  also  of  the  perfectibility  of  man,  that  we  cannot 
endure  to  see  the  world  contenting  itself  with  anything  short 
of  the  image  of  God,  and  of  perfect  communion  with  him. 
Man  was  a  noble  being  when  God  said  of  him  —  he  is  good. 
But  he  aspired  too  high ;  he  tried  to  become  a  centre  of  light 
and  strength  and  happiness  to  himself,  and  to  be  independent 
of  God.  He  withdrew  from  God's  spiritual  dominion,  and 
God  abandoned  his  spiritual  nature  to  itself,  and  made  him  in 
his  wretchedness  a  spectacle  to  himself  and  to  the  universe. 
The  brute  creation  have  fled  him,  for  he  has  become  their 
enemy  ;  the  very  earth  has  felt  the  blighting  curse  that  lighted 
on  him.  He  was  chased  from  Eden's  happy  garden,  and  the 
cherub-sentry  with  flaming  sword  still  stands  to  bar  his  return. 
Happy  Eden !  scene  of  our  sweet  communion  with  God ; 
happy  Eden,  witness  of  our  dignity  and  of  our  blessedness  ; 
thou  art  lost  to  us  and  we  to  thee !  My  brethren,  we  are 
strong  and  high  believers  in  the  dignity  of  human  nature. 
No  man  shall"  deprive  us  of  this  our  boasting ;  yet,  not  in  hu- 


68  JESUS   THE    GREAT   MISSIONARY. 

man  nature  as  it  is,  but  as  it  was,  and  as  by  grace  it  may 
become.  But  as  he  is,  man  is  lost.  And  we  want  to  sit  down 
by  the  side  of  every  brother  of  the  human  race,  and  weep 
with  him  for  the  crown  which  is  fallen  from  our  brow,  the 
home  and  the  heaven  which  we  have  lost.  We  want  to  undo 
the  deceiving  of  his  pride,  and  sigh  and  pray  with  him  for  the 
recovery  of  our  birthright. 

But  are  the  heathen,  who  have  not  our  light,  exposed  to 
perdition  ?  A  careless  world,  unwilling  to  make  thorough 
inquiry  into  the  condition  and  prospects  of  other  men,  com- 
placently wraps  itself  in  the  mantle  of  an  imagined  charity, 
and  says,  "  The  mercy  of  God  will  never  consign  them  to 
endless  punishment,  when  they  have  sincerely  done  their  best 
according  to  the  light  they  enjoy."  And  there,  indeed,  we 
are  agreed  with  the  world  ;  but  we  are  forced  to  stop  there  ; 
for  we  have  too  many  proofs  that  there  are  few  of  them  who 
will  have  that  plea.  We  find  also  a  part  of  the  church, 
though  unable  to  hope  much  for  the  pagan  world,  yet  unwil- 
ling to  adopt  the  harsh  conclusion,  that  these  hundreds  of 
millions  are  rushing  blindly  to  endless  ruin ;  and  preferring 
to  rest  in  a  vague  hope  that  it  will  not  be  so,  rather  than  to 
search  the  Scriptures  to  ascertain  if  God  has  given  us  any 
instruction  on  the  subject,  and  imposed  upon  us  any  responsi- 
bility in  the  matter.  Here  we  shall  fail  of  time  for  a  solemn 
topic.  The  sneers  of  the  world  terrify  us  not  in  such  a  mat- 
ter. The  charge  of  cruelty  troubles  not  our  conscience,  while 
we  seek  not  to  make  their  destruction  a  fact,  but  to  ascertain 
whether  they  are  really  exposed  to  destruction,  in  order  that 
we  may  aid  them  to  escape  it.  Indeed,  if  we  were  not  dis- 
trustful of  our  own  imperfect  motives,  we  should  say  that 
ours  is  the  true  charity,  which  welcomes  evidence,  though  it 
bring  us  to  the  results  of  distressing  sympathy  and  of  self- 
denying  labor.  We  are  inclined  to  suspect  the  depth  of  that 
charity  which,  to  save  its  possessor  pain,  and  spare  him  labor, 
settles  a  great  principle  of  the  divine  government,  a  great  fu- 
ture fact,  not  by  examining  God's  testimony,  but  by  appealing 
to  a  mere  human  sensibility.  If  we  consult  our  sympathies, 
we  say,  "  The  poor  pagans  will  not  go  to  a  miserable  eternity ; 
but  where  they  will  go  we  know  not."  But  when  we  ask, 
"  What  has  God  asserted  on  this  subject  ?  "  we  rise  from  the 
answer  with  heavy  hearts.  The  cry  of  the  perishing  then  swells 
on  our  ear  —  "  Come  over  and  help  us,"  —  until  we  wish  for 
a  thousand  tongues  to  proclaim  to  them  the  way  of  life.    An 


JESUS   THE    GREAT   MISSIONARY.  69 

outline  of  God's  testimony  is  all  we  can  here  present.  If  we 
examine  their  lives,  considered  in  the  light  of  a  disciplinary, 
probationary  or  preparatory  state,  we  cannot  believe  that 
they  go  to  heaven.  They,  as  well  as  we,  must  be  regenerated, 
and  that  in  this  world.  But  we  find  them  as  in  Paul's  day, 
infanticides,  liars,  adulterers,  covenant-breakers,  bestial,  sen- 
sual, devilish,  murderers  of  mothers.  All  this  seems  to  us  a 
preparation  not  for  heaven,  but  for  perdition.  We  find  them 
too,  just  what  the  Canaanites  were,  whom  God  in  his  anger 
swept  from  the  earth,  but  surely  not  into  heaven.  They 
are  idolaters  if  there  ever  were  any,  and  God  declares 
that  such  cannot  enter  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  Again,  to 
believe  that  they  are  in  the  way  to  heaven,  is  to  regard  all 
the  apostles'  anxieties  and  labor  for  their  salvation  as  un- 
founded, extravagant  and  useless.  And  again ;  the  apostle 
has  fully  reasoned  out  the  case  in  two  places.  In  the  one  he 
shows  that  they  sin  against  their  light  as  we  do  against  ours. 
In  the  other,  this  is  his  missionary  argument  —  "  For  whoso- 
ever shall  call  on  the  name  of  the  Lord,  shall  be  saved.  But 
how  shall  they  call  on  him  in  whom  they  have  not  believed; 
and  how  believe  in  him  of  whom  they  have  not  heard  ;  and 
how  hear,  without  preachers  ;  and  how  preach,  unless  sent  ?  " 
No,  my  brethren,  it  may  be  natural  sympathy,  or  it  may  be 
distrust  of  God's  testimony,  which  says,  "  Let  the  heathen 
alone ; "  but  it  is  not  enlightened  piety.  Then  we  are  right 
in  our  estimate  of  man  ;  then  we  should  not  be  dazzled  by  his 
external  appendages,  his  intellectual  and  social  traits.  Then 
we  may  say  to  the  higher  and  lower  Deistic  philosophies, — 
Your  boast  is  vain,  when  you  claim  the  exclusive  admiration 
of  human  nature ;  for  we  have  higher  views  than  either  of 
you.  You  would  satisfy  man  with  certain  social  excellences, 
certain  pagan  virtues,  certain  moral  sentiments,  which  have 
little  or  no  reference  to  God ;  but  we  believe  that  man  was 
made  to  live  in  God,  and  to  reflect  his  image  to  the  universe. 
You  are  teaching  him  to  aspire  to  an  intellectual  millennium ; 
we  are  aiming  to  prepare  the  world  to  return  to  the  love  of 
God  and  a  spiritual  life.  We  hold,  too,  the  key  that  unlocks 
the  deep  mystery  of  man's  present  condition.  A  French 
writer  of  your  school  says  —  "I  resemble,  O  Lord !  the  night- 
globe,  which,  in  the  obscure  path  where  thy  finger  leads  it, 
reflects  from  the  one  side,  eternal  light,  and  on  the  other  is 
plunged  in  mortal  shades."  "  How  abject,  how  august,"  says 
one  of  another  school,  "  how  complicate,  how  wonderful  is 
man ! "     There  is  something  great  in  man,  and   something 


70  JESUS   THE    GREAT   MISSIONARY. 

abject.  To  us,  the  mystery  is  solved.  Man  was  great,  good, 
godlike  in  his  powers  and  in  his  character ;  but  he  is  fallen  in 
character,  and  in  that  fall  has  dragged  down  his  powers  and 
native  sentiments  ;  leaving,  like  a  volcanic  rupture,  fragments 
of  an  Eden,  scattered  flowers  that  live  here  an  exotic  life. 

We  shall  now  consider,  much  more  briefly,  Jesus  as  our 
pattern. 

II.     In  his  treatment  of  bien. 

We  see  in  what  light  he  regarded  man,  and  how  his  holy 
soul  was  moved  with  compassion  towards  him.  We  now  de- 
mand, What  did  his  compassion  lead  him  to  do  ?  If  to  make 
great  sacrifices,  then  his  views  of  man's  lost  estate  must  have 
been  very  strong ;  for  although  it  may  be  love,  it  is  also  fool- 
ish love  that  makes  a  greater  sacrifice  and  effort  for  another, 
than  his  necessities  demand.  But  when  a  being  of  infinite 
intelligence  makes  great  sacrifices,  greater  than  we  are  capa- 
ble of  estimating,  the  evidence  is  complete,  that  the  misery 
threatening  or  actually  affecting  those  whom  he  aids,  is  equally 
immeasurable  by  us.  On  the  subject  of  the  condescension 
and  sacrifices  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  language  of  the 
Bible  is  deep,  mystic,  suggestive.  He  had  a  glory  with  the 
Father  before  the  world  was,  but  he  left  it.  What  was  that 
glory  ?  we  would  ask  —  where,  and  how  did  he  leave  it  in 
becoming  a  man  ?  The  veil  of  flesh  hides  it  from  our  sight. 
He  was  rich ;  when,  where,  in  what  ?  Tl^e  clouds  and  dark- 
ness of  an  infinite  majesty  rest  around  his  person,  and  hide 
from  feeble  mortals  the  splendors  of  his  primitive  empire. 
But  he  became  poor.  He  took  on  him  or  was  invested  with 
flesh.  Then  he  was,  before  he  was  flesh ;  he  was  before 
Abraham  ;  he  was  David's  root  and  lord,  before  he  was  his 
offspring  and  successor.  Mysterious  language !  He  took  on 
him,  at  the  very  instant  when  angels  were  adoring  him  as  the 
only-begotten  of  the  Father,  the  form  of  a  servant,  and  came 
to  be  despised  and  rejected,  to  hear  hisses  and  taunts  and 
blasphemies,  instead  of  hosannas  and  hallelujahs.  He  ex- 
changed heaven's  diadem  for  Judea's  thorns,  and  the  robes  of 
light  for  Pilate's  faded  and  discarded  garment ;  he  forsook  the 
palace  where  he  was  sovereign,  for  the  judgment-hall  where 
he  was  bound  and  buffeted  and  scourged  and  condemned.  He 
left  his  body-guard  of  holy  and  mighty  angels,  to  be  at  the 
mercy  of  wicked  and  puny  mortals  who  hated  him.  He  was 
the  Lord  of  the  universe,  but  he  was  born  of  one  of  the  lowli- 
est inhabitants  of  earth's  obscurest  corner.     He  was  Prince 


JESUS    THE    GREAT   MISSIONARY.  71 

of  life,  but  he  tasted  death  for  every  man.  This  the  Scrip- 
tures call  his  sacrifice  for  man's  salvation.  But  they  make 
all  this  the  lightest  feature  of  the  image  of  his  cross.  When 
they  would  start  our  imaginations  on  the  path  to  his  expiatory 
sufferings,  they  drop  a  few  phrases,  which  are  not  so  much 
intended  to  instruct,  as  to  impress  and  overwhelm  us  with 
godly  fear  and  sympathy.  "  My  soul  is  exceeding  sorrowful ; 
yea,  it  is  oppressed  by  a  deathlike  sorrow."  What  made  him 
sorrowful  —  so  sorrowful  ?  Nothing  in  all  that  was  external 
around  him  there;  nothing  that  the  Evangelists  mention. 
Again ;  in  the  garden  his  bodily  frame  passes  through  an 
unparalleled  excitement  of  agony ;  but  from  no  apparent  ade- 
quate cause.  To  attribute  it  to  his  fear  of  crucifixion,  or  to 
sorrow  for  his  cause  and  friends,  betrays  the  most  entire 
disrespect.  Again;  his  agonizing  cry,  Why  hast  thou  for- 
saken me  ?  permits  us  to  conjecture,  that  there  is  something 
in  what  the  Son  of  God  endured  in  our  stead  and  for  our 
salvation,  which  we  may  understand  only  when  our  intellec- 
tual povv^ers  shall  be  expanded  by  the  light,  and  our  moral 
powers  purified  by  the  love  of  heaven.  And  when  Jesus  said 
with  emphasis,  "  God  so  loved  the  world,  as  to  give  his  only- 
begotten  Son,"  we  understand  that  this  gift  was  so  costly,  and 
there  was  in  some  way  such  an  expenditure  and  sacrifice, 
that  it  not  only  showed  God's  love  to  man  more  clearly  than 
all  else  he  had  ever  said  or  done,  but  also,  that  it  shows  the 
immensity  of  that  love.  And  so,  when  the  apostle  reasons 
for  the  encouragement  of  faith  ;  **  If  God  spared  not  his  own 
Son,"  &c.  we  understand  that  this  not  sparing,  and  freely 
giving  up,  involve  something  which  we  are  now  incapable  of 
comprehending,  but  by  which  God  designs  to  affect  our  hearts 
and  form  our  characters  more  powerfully  than  by  all  his 
words  or  works.  If  the  understanding  of  any  man  forbids 
the  flow  of  emotion,  until  this  veil  is  removed,  then  his  heart 
will  never  feel  fully  in  this  life  what  Paul  felt  when  he  said, 
"  The  love  of  Christ  constraineth  us,  because  we  thus  judge 
that  if  one  died  for  all,  then  were  all  dead."  We  were  all 
dead,  and  he  died  for  the  dead ;  and  in  dying,  he  showed  his 
conviction  of  our  state  of  spiritual  death. 

But  we  have  done  with  proofs  of  man's  apostate  and  ruined 
state.  It  is  to  us  a  fact.  The  Word  of  God  declares  it. 
But  it  also  declares  another  fact.  And  on  all  this  gloomy 
cloud  rests  this  rainbow-truth  —  "  The  Son  of  Man  has  come 
to  seek  and  to  save  that  which  was  lost."     Oh  then,  ye  scoff- 


72  JESUS    THE    GREAT   MISSIONARY. 

ing  economists  !  let  us  hear  do  more  your  severe  reproofs  of 
Our  poor  expenditures  of  property  in  the  missionary  cause. 
Jesus  is  the  master  whom  we  follow,  though  at  too  great  a 
distance ;  Jesus  is  the  model  we  imitate,  though  very  imper- 
fectly. Oh  then,  covetous,  selfish  professors  of  Christ's  gos- 
pel, imbibe  his  spirit,  and  live  and  labor  and  expend  for  the 
recovery  of  the  lost.  Brethren,  I  must  rise  now  from  the 
attitude  of  defence,  and  turn  and  charge  on  this  practical 
indifference  and  on  this  skeptical  philosophy,  positive  guilt. 
Had  the  Bible  contained  its  present  amount  of  wisdom,  but 
on  some  of  men's  temporal  interests,  —  had  it  determined  the 
great  questions  of  finance,  —  how  eagerly  would  they  read  it,— 
how  cordially  believe  it !  But  as  a  spiritual  book,  the  one 
class  disregard  it,  and  the  other  look  at  it  as  full  of  exaggera- 
tions. But  they  should  remember  that  this  is  the  only  volume 
in  human  language  which  God  has  condescended  to  write. 
And  should  it  not  contain  deep,  high,  wondrous  things  ?  Is 
not  this  one  of  its  very  marks  and  seals  ?  The  Bible  is  full 
of  paradoxes,  because  it  shows  us  only  fragments  of  truths, 
the  full  magnitude  and  harmony  of  which  we  cannot  now 
comprehend.  Wlien  God  teaches  man  the  dignity  of  his  ori- 
gin, philosophy  denies  it,  and  makes  him  the  birth  of  chance. 
When  the  Bible  declares  the  dignity  of  man's  primeval  estate, 
philosophy  denies  it,  and  says  he  is  as  good  and  pure  and  happy 
as  when  God  made  him.  When  God  pronounces  his  fearful 
sentence  against  sin,  philosophy  laughs  at  it,  and  says  it  is  ex- 
travagant. When  God  proclaims  the  immense  price  of  our 
redemption,  she  laughs  again,  and  says,  how  absurd  to  make 
an  expiation  to  himself,  and  so  costly  a  one  for  such  trivial 
offences !  But  God  knows  two  things  which  we  do  not  know, 
and  therefore  does  two  things  which  we  would  not  do.  He 
knows  the  demerit  of  sin,  and  therefore  threatens  it  with 
everlasting  punishment.  He  knows  the  value  of  the  soul, 
and  therefore  gives  his  Son  for  its  redemption.  Ye  that  de- 
spise this  rich  gift, — ye  that  despise  us  for  our  efforts  to  pro- 
claim its  story  to  the  world,  —  let  me  say  to  you  in  God's  name 
—  Ye  have  a  double  guilt,  and  must  need  a  twofold  condem- 
nation. You  believe  not,  and  therefore  are  condemned 
already.  You  also  rob  the  world  of  its  hope.  Your  theories 
and  your  practice  would  leave  mankind  in  a  hopeless  condi- 
tion. You  dash  from  the  trembling  hand  of  perishing  man 
the  lamp  of  life,  —  the  cup  of  salvation  ;  you  shatter  in  pieces 
the  only  bark  to  which  poor  human  nature  can  commit  its 


JESUS    THE    GREAT   MISSIONARY.  73 

hopes  for  eternity !  What  have  you  proved,  fellow-man  ? 
At  best,  a  negative.  You  have  begun  and  ended  with  deny- 
ing. That  there  is  disorder,  wickedness,  misery,  you  cannot 
deny.  That  the  world  is  full  of  it,  you  cannot  deny.  And 
yet  you  would  prevent  our  going  to  probe  this  moral  wound 
and  administer  God's  efficacious  remedy.  If  one  finds  him- 
self the  slave  of  passion,  if  his  conscience  condemns  him,  if 
he  fears  that  there  possibly  may  be  an  hour  of  retribution 
and  an  eternity  of  wretchedness  just  beyond  the  confines  of 
life  —  what  can  you  say  to  this  troubled  spirit  ?  You  can 
sneer ;  but  can  you  console  ?  You  can  reason ;  but  can  you 
suppress  the  instinctive  solicitude  for  a  sure  and  solid  hope  of 
immortal  blessedness?  It  was  an  instructive  scene,  when 
the  dying  Hindoo,  representing  our  common  humanity,  turned 
to  his  priest  and  cried  —  Where  shall  I  go  when  I  leave  the 
body  ?  And  the  priest  replied,  in  the  spirit  of  your  philoso- 
phy and  in  the  pride  of  ignorance  —  Lito  a  bird.  But  when 
that  bird  dies  —  where  then  ?  Into  a  flower.  And  where 
then?  The  priest  became  weary  with  answering;  but  still 
the  soul  cried — And  where  then?  That  is  the  question 
which  must  be  met — fully,  definitely  and  authoritatively 
answered.  To  leave  it  unsolved,  is  to  mock  and  deceive  the 
wretched  heart  of  the  mourner ;  to  leave  it  unsolved,  and  yet 
pretend  to  offer  the  cure  for  human  misery,  is  charlatanry 
the  most  detestable.  To  answer  it  by  conjectures,  or  to  meet 
it  with  inferences  from  God's  mercy  which  every  groan  and 
tear  falsifies,  is  fraud  of  the  most  injurious  kind.  To  amuse 
man  with  theories,  but  to  leave  darkness  on  this  chief  point 
of  all  his  solicitude,  is  the  glory  of  anti-scriptural  philosophy. 
Just  where  man  most  wants  light,  it  is  darkness.  And  just 
there  the  Bible  pours  the  effulgence  of  eternal  day.  And  not 
to  hail  that  light,  not  to  spread  it,  is  treason  to  God's  mercy, 
treason  to  our  sacred  trust,  treason  to  man's  highest  interests. 

But  let  me  turn  a  moment  in  closing,  to  you,  my  dear 
brother,  on  this  momentous  hour  of  your  life,  when  you  are 
come  to  receive  from  Jesus,  by  the  hands  of  his  unworthy 
servants,  the  investment  of  this  highest  office  confided  to  man. 
Let  me  say  to  you : 

That  deep  compassion  for  men  should  characterize  the 
whole  spirit  of  the  missionary  and  of  missionary  work. 

Go  to  the  benighted,  with  as  glad  a  heart  as  animated  the 
angels  when  they  were  commissioned  to  announce  the  glad 
tidings  of  Heaven's  great  mission  of  love.     When  your  feet 
7 


74  JESUS   THE    GREAT   MISSIONARY. 

shall  touch  the  shores  of  that  distant  land,  sing  in  the  fulness 
of  your  spirit  —  Glory  to  God  in  the  highest,  peace  on  earth, 
and  good  will  to  man.  Be  touched,  like  your  high  priest, 
with  a  feeling  of  their  infirmities.  Dwell  in  your  thoughts, 
on  their  lost  estate;  see  them  as  the  great  Shepherd  did, 
wandering  from  the  fold ;  until  your  heart  bleeds  and  breaks 
with  pity.  This  will  anipiate  and  sustain  you  amid  difficul- 
ties. You  can  bear  them  for  the  sake  of  the  miserable,  for 
yours  will  then  be  pity  tender  and  sustaining,  like  that  of  the 
patient  mother  by  the  couch  of  her  suffering  child.  This  will 
make  you  gentle  and  forbearing  and  patient,  even  with  a 
mother's  tenderness,  and  keep  you  from  crushing  the  bruised 
reed,  or  quenching  the  faintly-kindled  wick.  This  will  speak 
in  heavenly  eloquence  from  your  very  countenance,  and  melt 
the  gates  of  brass  in  the  hard  heart  of  man.  This  will  give 
you  errands  to  the  mercy-seat,  and  arguments  before  it. 
This  will  nerve  you  to  your  work,  when  a  relaxing  climate 
would  tend  to  unnerve  you.  This  will  be  treading  in  the 
footsteps  of  the  Great  Missionary. 

Let  me  say  again  —  That  the  example  of  Christ  is  the 
missionary's  encouragement.  You  leave  all  for  those  you. 
would  save ;  so  did  he.  You  mean  to  identify  yourself  with 
them  in  every  thing  but  sin,  to  bear  their  infirmities  and 
share  their  sorrows ;  so  did  he.  You  are  acting  on  the  great 
principle,  that  to  save  from  overflowing  evil,  the  good  of  the 
universe  must  be  diffused,  not  concentrated ;  so  did  he.  You 
are  going  to  men,  and  not  waiting  for  them  to  come  to  you  ; 
so  did  he.  You  are  going  to  seek  and  to  save  that  which  is 
lost,  according  to  the  measure  imparted  to  you  of  the  Father ; 
so  did  he.  And  you  are  not  only  laboring  like  Christ,  but 
also  for  him  and  with  him.  He  is  seeking  these  very  souls. 
He  once  did  it  in  person.  Now  he  does  it  by  his  Spirit  and 
by  his  people.  But  his  interest  is  no  less  now,  than  when 
his  sacred  feet  were  traversing  the  land  which  your  feet  shall 
traverse,  to  save  the  perishing  sheep  of  Israel's  fold.  You 
are  going  like  him  to  pray  in  Gethsemane  ;  but  he  spares 
your  ascent  to  Golgotha  and  the  tree.  Go,  dear  brother, 
moisten  with  your  tears  for  man  the  soil  which  he  moistened 
when  he  thought  of  the  lost.  Go,  assured  not  only  that  you 
are  seeking  them  for  Christ,  but  that  he  is  seeking  them  by 
you  and  with  you.  Urge  that,  much,  and  with  much  faith  in 
jrour  prayers ;  it  will  prevail  for  many  a  blessing. 

Let  VIS  conclude  by  saying  —  That  persuasion  to  believe  in 


JESUS   THE   GREAT   MISSIONARY.  75 

Christ  is  the  missionary's  great  work.  To  effect  this,  he 
Diust  commend  himself  to  iJie  conscience.  Through  an 
awakened  conscience,  man  learns  his  need  of  Christ.  Go 
then,  dear  brother,  speak  to  the  sleeping  conscience  of  man. 
Let  not  your  attention  be  fixed  upon  his  peculiarities,  his 
specific  qualities  as  an  individual  man  or  his  more  general 
features  of  national  character,  his  theories  of  philosophy  and 
religion ;  but  meet  him  as  a  man,  as  a  lost  man  ;  nay,  as  one 
that  knows  he  is  lost.  If  your  attention  is  drawn  only  or 
chiefly  to  his  corporeal  miseries,  his  social  degradation,  his 
intellectual  privations,  you  will  incur  the  danger  of  diverting 
his  and  your  attention  from  that  which  should  arouse  your 
profounder  sympathies  and  all  his  slumbering  energies  of 
conscience.  You  must  indeed  attempt  the  amelioration  of 
his  intellectual  and  social  state  ;  but  guard  vigilantly  against 
letting  either  your  or  his  anxieties  and  efforts  terminate 
there.  "When  you  have  to  meet  him  as  the  philosopher  of 
another  school,  you  may  be  discouraged  at  the  sinoerity  and 
obstinacy,  nay  perhaps,  plausibility  with  which  he  can  con- 
front you.  But  when  you  meet  him  in  the  winning  strength 
of  a  deep  sympathy ;  —  you  the  lost  and  recovered,  he  the 
lost  and  perislnng  man ;  —  then  you  are  in  your  strongest 
attitude,  he  is  in  his  most  defenceless.  The  missionary  must 
speak  from  deep  experience  to  the  consciousness  of  guilt 
often  stifled,  never  annihilated  in  the  impenitent  bosom ;  to 
a  conscience  often  stifled,  often  cheated,  never  tranquilized 
by  his  vain  superstitions.  Speak,  my  brother  ;  now  in  thun- 
der, —  now  in  the  still,  small  voice.  So  God  speaks  in  nature 
and  in  grace.  Man  will  understand  you,  when  you  whisper 
to  his  conscience.  Yet  you  may  awaken  resistance.  The 
light  is  painful  to  them  that  love  darkness.  And  false  phi- 
losophy, and  false  religion  and  practical  unbelief  will  all  be 
resorted  to,  to  shield  the  conscience.  And  yet  your  great 
work  is  to  bring  home  on  the  soul  of  each  man  the  conviction 
that  he  is  lost.  Trouble  yourselves  little  and  others  still  less 
with  theories  of  human  depravity.  They  may  be  important. 
They  have  their  place.  But  whatever  else  they  do,  they 
do  not  awaken  the  conscience.  And  if  I  mistake  not, 
more  of  them  have  lulled,  than  have  awakened  it.  The 
facts  of  depravity  and  conscience  are  two  of  the  ultimate 
facts,  to  be  taken  as  theological  axioms.  God  has  not  proved 
the  existence  of  either,  but  simply  asserted  it.  And  so  may 
we,  both  on  his  testimony  and  on  men's  very  consciousness. 


76  JESUS    THE    GREAT   MISSIONAKr. 

And  yet  if  your  brethren  entertain  themselves  with  theory- 
making,  or  deem  their  theories  important ;  do  not  therefore 
separate  from  them ;  only  you  yourself  be  given  to  the  work 
of  saving  the  lost.  Perhaps  one  of  the  mightiest  elements  of 
ministerial  power,  is  the  deep  conviction  on  the  soul,  of  the 
lost  condition  of  man.  It  must  give  fervor  and  frequency  to 
prayer,  and  tend  greatly  to  produce  a  conviction  in  others. 
Your  hearer  may  be  ^proud  and  powerful  in  his  philosophy, 
he  may  be  self-complacent  in  his  creed  and  ceremonies.  But 
whisper  to  his  soul  of  seasons  of  shame  and  self-reproach  and 
fear  which  forebodes  impending  doom,  and  he  cannot  deny, 
he  cannot  argue  ;  for  he  feels  that  he  is  dealing  with  Truth 
and  with  God.  In  your  public  addresses,  deal  with  the  con- 
science and  you  will  imitate  the  greatest  preachers.  Study 
the  sermons  of  Elijah  to  Ahab,  of  Nathan  to  David,  of  Peter 
to  the  thousands  at  Jerusalem,  of  Paul  to  Felix.  There  you 
find  no  flattery  of  human  nature,  no  general  descriptions  of 
virtue,  but  guilt  and  condemnation  described  as  pertaining  to 
them  all.  Feel  that  man  is  lost ;  that  guilt  and  condemna- 
tion and  spiritual  poverty  belong  to  every  child  of  Adam. 
Proclaim  that,  on  the  house-top  and  in  the  closet.  Man  may 
not  have  thought  of  it,  but  when  you  suggest  it,  he  sees  that 
it  is  truth.  Give  him  exalted  views  of  human  dignity  and 
worth,  not  as  it  is,  but  as  it  was  and  may  be.  Solve  the 
strange  perplexity  of  every  man's  experience  ;  tell  him  what 
you  know  of  former  conflicts  and  present  conquests  ;  of  noble 
aspirations  after  heaven  and  sordid  attachments  to  earth ;  of 
desires  to  please  God  and  determinations  to  please  self. 
Speak  to  his  love  of  happiness ;  he  will  understand  you. 
And  as  you  solve  the  mystery  to  his  astonished  soul,  as  you 
describe  the  symptoms  of  his  spiritual  malady,  as  you  point 
him  to  the  balm  of  Gilead,  and  the  great  Physician,  —  a  new 
life  of  hope  may  begin  to  infuse  itself  into  his  soul.  —  Again 
I  say,  your  great  employment  is  to  bring  the  individual  souls 
of  men  to  Christ.  Be  not  diverted  from  this  ;  be  not  satisfied 
short  of  success  in  this.  If  you  must  do  other  things,  con- 
sider them  collateral  and  subordinate  to  this.  Your  glorious 
commission  is,  to  seek  and  save  the  lost.  Be  filled,  be  fired 
with  the  spirit  of  that  commission.  May  you,  and  may  the 
church,  and  all  of  us  who  announce  the  gospel,  be  more  and 
more  filled  with  that  glorious  object  —  the  recovering  to  im- 
mortal spirits  the  lost  image  of  God,  and  guiding  the  perish- 
ing to  an  almighty  Saviour.     May  the  Spirit  be  poured  from 


JESUS    THE    GREAT   MISSIONARY.  77 

on  high,  until  the  whole  church  sees  and  feels  that  these  facts 
are  now  of  chief  importance  —  man  is  lost,  and  the  Son  of  God 
is  seeking  him ;  man  is  lost,  and  the  Son  of  God  is  come  to 
save  him  ;  man  is  lost,  and  the  church  is  commissioned  to  go 
forth  in  the  might  of  faith  and  prayer  to  his  salvation.  To 
save  the  lost  f  To-night  we  talk  of  it,  as  children  talk  of  the 
affairs  of  empires ;  we  see  through  a  glass  darkly ;  our  con- 
ceptions are  low  and  limited.  To  save  the  lost !  Tell  us,  ye 
damned  spirits,  what  it  means.  Tell  us.  Son  of  God,  what  it 
means  ;  what  stirred  thy  soul  in  godlike  compassion  to  seek 
the  lost  ?  Tell  us,  ye  ransomed  and  ye  faithful  spirits  who 
never  sinned  —  tell  us,  eternity  —  what  is  this  mighty  work 
of  gospel  missions  ?  Tell  us,  O  Father,  tell  thy  churches  ; 
tell  thy  ministers ;  until  every  slumberer  awake,  every  en- 
ergy be  aroused,  and  the  way  of  life  be  pointed  out  to  a  per^ 
ishing  race  I 


7* 


CHRIST,  A  HOME  MISSIONARY. 


REV.    WILLIAM    R.    WILLIAMS,   D.   D. 

And  he  said  unto  them,  let  us  go  mto  the  next  towns,  that  I  may  preach  there  also : 
for  therefore  came  I  forth.  —  Mark  1 :  38. 

It  is  ever  delightful  to  the  Christian,  that  he  can  trace  in 
the  way,  along  which  he  journeys,  the  footsteps  of  his  Saviour 
preceding  him.  The  labors,  the  sorrows  and  the  joys  of  his 
course  all  become  hallowed,  when  it  is  seen  that  the  Master 
has  first  partaken  of  them.  The  cup  of  affliction  is  less  dis- 
tasteful to  the  believer,  because  our  Lord  has  himself  drunk 
of  its  bitterness,  and  left  on  the  brim  a  lingering  fragrance. 
In  prayer,  he  approaches  to  God  with  greater  confidence, 
because  he  names  as  his  intercessor,  one  who  himself  prayed 
while  upon  earth,  with  strong  crying  and  tears,  watched  all 
night  in  supplication  on  the  lone  mountain  side,  and  bowed  to 
pray,  beneath  the  olives  of  Gethsemane,  with  the  bloody 
dews  of  anguish  on  his  brow.  And  the  preaching  of  the 
word  derives  its  highest  glory  from  the  fact,  that  He  who 
descended  into  the  world  to  become  its  ransom,  was  himself  a 
minister  of  that  Gospel  he  commissioned  others  to  preach. 
In  the  words  before  us  we  have  Christ's  own  testimony,  that 
the  very  purpose  of  his  coming  was  to  preach  from  town  to 
town  of  his  native  land.  Jesus  Christ  was,  therefore,  a  Home 
Missionary.  To  this  end,  blessed  Saviour,  "camest  thou 
forth."  To  thy  servants,  who  have  at  this  time  for  the  like 
purpose  gathered  themselves  together,  wilt  thou  not  then 
give  thy  presence  and  favor,  Head  of  thy  Church  as  thou 
art,  Master  of  all  her  assemblies,  and  the  only  effectual 
teacher  of  all  her  pastors  and  evangelists  ? 


CHRIST,   A   HOME   MISSIONARY.  79 

Aid  me,  my  brethren,  with  your  prayers,  while  from  these 
words  I  would  commend  to  your  notice  the  resemblance 

BETWEEN  your  OWN  LABORS,  AND  THE  PERSONAL  MINIS- 
TRY OP  YOUR  Lord  and  Saviour  as  performed  in  the 
FIELD  OF  Home  Missions  ;  and  while  I  urge  the  conse- 
quent DUTY  OF  THE  ChURCH  TO  CONTINUE  AND  ABOUND 
IN  THE  LIKE  GOOD  WORK. 

I.  The  title  of  Missionary  denotes,  as  you  know,  one  sent 
forth,  and  especially  belongs  to  one  whose  errand  it  is  to 
propagate  religion.  You  need  not  to  be  reminded  how  often 
Christ  announced  to  his  hostile  countrymen  the  fact,  that  he 
was  sent  from  God,  to  declare  the  Father,  from  whose  bosom 
he  came  forth,  whom  no  man  had  seen  or  could  see.  The 
title  of  apostles,  by  which  he  saw  it  meet  to  designate  his 
twelve  chosen  disciples,  is,  as  you  are  aware,  but  the  render- 
ing into  Greek  of  the  same  idea,  which,  borrowing  the  word 
from  the  language  of  the  Romans,  we  express  by  the  term 
missionary  ;  and  the  Saviour  himself  is  by  Paul  described  as 
the  great  Apostle  of  our  profession,  or  in  other  words,  the 
chiefest  Missionary  of  the  Church.  Now  the  field  of  his 
labor  and  his  missionary  character  may  assume  different 
aspects,  according  to  the  point  of  view  from  which  our  obser- 
vations are  made.  If  we  look  to  the  original  Godhead  of  the 
messenger,  and  to  the  glory  which  he  had  with  the  Father 
before  the  foundation  of  the  world,  his  mission  was  a  distant 
one.  To  bring  the  glad  message  to  our  earth  from  the  far 
Heavens,  he  emptied  himself  of  glory,  became  a  voluntary 
exile  from  the  society  of  the  pure  and  the  blessed,  and  taking 
on  him  the  nature  of  sinful  man,  became  the  sharer  of  his 
miseries,  and  the  perpetual  witness  of  his  iniquities.  In  this 
sense  it  was  to  a  foreign  shore  that  he  came,  and  to  an  alien 
race  that  he  ministered  ;  and  thus  considered,  his  labors  more 
nearly  resembled  those  of  the  foreign  missionary.  But  if  we 
confine  our  regard  to  the  mere  humanity  of  our  Lord,  his 
missionary  toils  assume  another  aspect.  His  personal  minis- 
try was  far  more  limited  and  national  in  its  character,  than 
was  his  message.  Although  in  his  relation  to  our  race  of 
every  kindred  and  of  all  lands,  he  is  the  second  Adam,  and 
the  nature  which  he  took  upon  him  was  that  common  to  our 
whole  kind,  he  was  yet  born  in  the  land  of  promise,  under 
the  law  given  to  Moses,  and  within  the  range  of  the  covenant 
made  with  Abraham.  By  these  bounds  his  personal  ministry 
was  for  the  most  part  limited. 


80  CHRIST,  A  HOME   MISSIONARY. 

It  might  have  been  otherwise.  The  same  indwelling 
Deity,  that  enabled  him  at  an  early  age  to  confound  the 
doctors  of  his  nation,  beneath  the  shadow  of  their  own  proud 
temple,  might  have  been  displayed,  had  he  chosen  it,  at  a 
still  earlier  year  of  his  life ;  and  the  holy  child  might  have 
preached  the  gospel  to  that  heathenish  Egypt,  in  which  his 
infancy  sought  refuge*  The  Being,  before  whose  eye,  in  the 
wilderness  of  temptation,  were  brought  all  the  kingdoms  of 
this  world,  with  all  the  glory  of  them,  might,  had  he  so  willed 
it,  have  traversed  all  those  kingdoms  in  his  own  personal 
ministry.  Clothing  himself,  had  he  chosen  it,  with  those 
same  miraculous  gifts  which  he  reserved  for  his  kingly  ascen- 
sion, then  to  be  showered  down  on  his  Pentecostal  Church, 
he  might  have  visited  land  after  land,  declaring  to  every  tribe 
of  mankind,  in  their  own  dialect,  the  truths  he  came  to  re- 
veal. He  might  have  been  the  first  to  carry  the  gospel  to 
imperial  Rome,  and  hunting  the  hoary  profligate  and  dissem- 
bler Tiberius  to  his  guilty  retreat  at  Capreae,  he  might  have 
reasoned  before  the  crowned  ruler  of  the  world,  of  righteous- 
ness, temperance,  and  judgment  to  come,  until  he  too,  like  an 
inferior  ruler  in  after  times,  had  trembled  on  his  throne.  He 
might  have  anticipated  the  labors  of  his  servant  Paul,  by 
bearing  the  news  of  the  unknown  God,  and  the  resurrection, 
to  the  philosophers  of  Athens.  To  the  Roman  people  he 
might  have  declared  himself  as  that  great  Deliverer,  of  whom 
their  Virgil  had  already  sung ;  and  the  sages  of  Greece  might 
have  been  compelled  to  own  in  him  that  Heavenly  Teacher 
for  whom  their  Socrates  had  longed.  And  the  nations  of  the 
East  now  intently  looking  for  the  advent  of  a  king,  whose 
dominion  should  be  an  universal  one,  might  have  learned 
from  our  Lord's  own  lips,  the  spiritual  and  eternal  nature  of 
that  kingdom  they  justly  but  blindly  expected.  And  thus 
having  filled  the  whole  world  with  the  echo  of  his  fame,  as  a 
preacher  of  repentance  and  of  faith,  he  might  have  returned 
to  Jerusalem,  out  of  which  her  prophets  might  not  perish, 
there  to  consummate  the  atoning  sacrifice  of  which  he  had 
testified. 

We  say,  Jesus  Christ  might  thus  have  carried  abroad  the 
word  of  salvation  to  many  nations.  Instead,  however,  of 
doing  this,  he  confined  himself  in  his  personal  instructions  to 
the  bounds  of  Palestine,  one  visit  to  the  coast  of  Tyre  and 
Sidon  excepted,  and  even  of  this  it  is  most  probable,  that  he 
taught  in  that  region  only  the  Jews  there  scattered.     In  his 


CHRIST,   A   HOME   MISSIONARY.  81 -" 

occasional  retirement  from  the  violence  of  his  enemies,  he 
neither  wandered  to  Arabia  and  its  roving  hordes  of  the  race 
of  Ishraael,  on  the  south  ;  nor  did  he  travel  into  the  country 
of  that  powerful  people,  whose  territories  skirted  Judea  on 
the  east,  the  Edomites,  who  were  the  kindred  of  Israel,  as 
being  the  posterity  of  Esau.  When  the  appeals  of  distress 
were  made  to  him  by  those  of  another  race,  he  himself  drew 
attention  to  this  restriction  as  being  laid  upon  his  own  minis- 
try, declaring  that  he  was  not  sent,  but  to  the  lost  sheep  of 
the  house  of  Israel,  —  was  not  sent,  or  in  other  language,  his 
commission  as  a  missionary  preacher,  went  no  further.  To 
their  relief  he  confined  well  nigh  all  his  miracles.  With  the 
devotedness  of  a  true  patriot,  he  labored  for  the  good  of  his 
own,  although  his  own  received  him  not.  And  to  the  end  he 
persevered  in  this  course.  In  the  last  week  of  his  mortal 
career,  when  to  his  divine  prescience  the  awful  scenes  of  the 
betrayal,  the  mockery,  the  scourging,  and  the  crucifixion  were 
already  present,  as  a  vivid  reality,  when,  seated  with  his  dis- 
ciples on  the  sides  of  Olivet,  he  looked  with  them,  upon  the 
city  with  its  battlements  and  turrets,  its  long  drawn  terraces, 
and  its  gorgeous  temple,  spread  out  on  the  opposite  heights, 
but  saw  what  their  eyes  could  not  see,  and  heard  what  their 
ears  could  not  hear,  —  when,  in  the  garden  that  lay  at  his 
feet,  his  prophetic  eye  already  discerned  the  bloody  agony 
soon  to  bedew  it,  and  viewed  in  the  palaces  of  Herod  and 
Pilate  rising  before  him,  all  the  scenes  of  ignominy  and  tor- 
ture he  was  soon  there  to  encounter,  —  when  along  the  streets, 
DOW  sending  up  but  the  hum  of  cheerful  industry,  his  pro- 
phetic ear  even  now^  heard  resounding  the  yells  of  the  multi- 
tude, as  they  rushed  from  the  place  of  judgment  to  the  hill  of 
Golgotha,  —  even  with  these  sights  and  sounds  around  him, 
from  the  thought  of  his  own  overwhelming  baptism  of  an- 
guish, he  could  turn  aside  to  weep  over  favored  but  guilty 
Jerusalem,  with  as  ardent  an  affection  as  had  ever  filled  the 
heart  of  a  Hebrew,  when  his  eye  caught  the  first  glance  of  its 
turrets  on  his  yearly  pilgrimage,  and  he  hailed  it  in  inspired 
song,  as  the  city  of  the  great  King,  seated  on  the  sides  of  the 
north,  beautiful  for  situation,  and  the  joy  of  the  whole  earth. 
And  after  he  had  wrought  out  the  great  work  of  redemption, 
and  gave  his  apostles,  before  his  ascension,  charge  to  bear  his 
gospel  among  all  nations,  however  remote,  and  however  bar- 
barous, he  yet  added  the  restriction,  that  their  labors  should 
begin  at  Jerusalem. 


82  CHRIST,   A   HOME    MISSIONARY. 

We  are  ready  to  admit  that  all  this  was  needed  for  the 
accomplishment  of  the  prophecies  that  went  before  concern- 
ing him.  But  Christ  had,  it  should  be  remembered,  the 
ordering  of  those  very  prophecies,  for  his  was  the  Spirit  that 
prompted  them.  To  refer  this  restriction  of  the  field  of 
Christ's  labors  to  prophecy,  is  then  only  to  make  his  plan  of 
Home  Missions  a  few  centuries  the  older,  and  leave  it  still 
the  work  of  his  mind.  Into  the  purposes  which  may  have 
guided  the  Saviour  in  thus  acting,  we  would  not  here  enter. 
Whatever  his  intent,  in  thus  narrowing  the  field  of  his  toils 
as  a  preacher,  the  fact  is  evident  that  to  the  land  of  Canaan, 
or  the  bounds  of  his  native  country,  his  ministerial  labors 
were  confined,  and  Jesus  Christ,  while  upon  earth,  was  a 
Home  Missionary.  Now  a  work  which  occupied  the  greatest 
of  preachers,  can  never  be  unimportant,  and  a  plan  of  benev- 
olent effort,  which  marked  the  first  ages  of  the  Church,  and 
was  commended  by  the  example  of  its  great  Head,  can  never 
become  obsolete. 

Nor  is  this,  beloved  brethren,  the  only  point  of  contact 
between  the  ministerial  labors  of  Christ,  and  the  work  in 
which  you  are  engaged.  We  have  seen  how  far  resemblance 
to  him  may  be  claimed  by  your  society  in  the  scene  of  your 
labors.  Bear  with  me,  while  I  proceed  to  consider  the  com- 
mission under  which  he  acted,  the  message  he  bore,  the  man- 
ner in  which  he  published  it,  and  ih^mode  in  which  his  labors 
were  sustained, 

2.  Of  the  commission  under  which  he  labored,  it  may  in- 
deed be  said,  that  it  was  peculiar  to  himself,  and  may  be 
claimed  by  none  others,  that  he  spoke  by  his  own  authority. 
It  was  the  natural  result  of  his  Deity  as  the  equal  Son  of 
the  Eternal  Father.  The  scribe  and  the  pharisee  quailed 
before  the  self-sustained  dignity  of  his  teachings.  Thus  your 
Missionaries  may  not  teach.  They  may  promulgate  only  the 
things  His  word  contains,  and  in  no  other  name  than  his  are 
they  to  speak,  or  is  the  Church  to  receive  their  testimony. 
But  in  this  respect  they  may  claim  to  act  under  the  same 
commission  with  Christ,  that  they  are  embraced  within  its 
ample  provision  of  gifts  and  blessings  to  the  Church.  As 
the  Father  hath  sent  me,  said  he  to  his  disciples,  so  send  I 
you.  To  them  thus  sent  he  promised  his  own  perpetual 
presence  and  aid.  Lo  I  am  with  you  always,  even  unto  the 
end  of  the  world.  Again  in  the  mission  of  the  Saviour  he 
inherited  as  a  qualification  for  its  varied  tasks,  the  Spirit  with-* 


CHRIST,  A  HOME   MISSIONARY.  83 

out  measure,  and  with  him  is  its  inexhaustible  residue.  Now  of 
this  Spirit,  in  its  due  and  needed  measure,  he  has  vouchsafed 
to  communicate  to  the  Church  and  its  teachers.  To  commu- 
nicate it  to  his  apostles,  he  employed  forms  on  which  the 
Church  dared  never  venture,  and  which  well  betokened  his 
own  self-derived  and  incommunicable  right  as  God,  to  dispense 
it.  The  apostles  were  wont,  by  the  imposition  of  hands,  an 
act  ever  accompanied  with  prayer,  to  confer  the  gifts  of  the 
Spirit,  acknowledging  thus  that  to  Grod  they  looked  up  for 
the  blessing.  He,  on  the  contrary,  breathed  on  the  twelve, 
as  if  to  show  its  native  and  perpetual  in-dwelling  within  him, 
and  in  a  brief  sentence,  which,  were  he  not  God,  would  be 
condensed  and  inspissated  blasphemy,  said  :  '  Receive  ye  the 
Holy  Ghost.'  Although  not  thus  given,  you  believe  that  the 
same  Spirit  yet  remains  to  teach  and  bless  the  Church.  Did 
not  that  Spirit,  as  you  trust,  first  endow  them,  your  Mission- 
aries would  not  have  been  accepted.  Did  he  not  attend 
them,  and  work  with  them,  they  could  not  be  prospered. 
May  it  not  then  without  irreverence  be  claimed,  that  the  men 
sustained  by  your  alms  in  the  mission  field,  go  forth  under 
the  same  commission  with  Christ ;  since  he  himself  construed 
that  commission  as  including  the  subordinate  laborers  of  all 
times,  whom  he  should  raise  up,  —  since  he  has  himself 
promised  his  personal  aid  and  presence  with  these  to  the  end 
of  time  —  since  the  Spirit  that  first  endowed,  and  that  yet 
prospers  them,  is  all  his  own,  —  and  is  one  with  that  Spirit 
by  which  he  himself  was  anointed  for  his  great  work,  under 
the  commission  by  him  received  of  the  Father. 

3.  As  to  the  message  which  he  bore,  its  great  burden  was 
repentance  and  faith,  as  ushering  into  the  kingdom  of  God. 
He  taught  this  truth  by  his  herald  and  fore-runner  John,  and 
continually  reiterated  it  in  his  own  ministry.  He  veiled  it  in 
his  parables  —  he  mingled  it  with  his  miracles  of  mercy  — 
he  spoke  it  in  the  ears  of  his  favored  apostles  —  he  published 
it  on  the  house-top  to  the  indiscriminate  multitude.  On  the 
mountain  side,  or  sitting  in  the  ship,  in  the  way  as  he  walked, 
or  leaning  in  weariness  on  the  brink  of  the  well,  in  the  home 
of  his  poorer  disciples,  or  the  banqueting  chambers  of  some 
richer  host,  still  this  was  his  theme.  And  what  other  dare 
your  missionaries  substitute  ?  Varied  as  may  be  the  garb 
into  which  it  is  thrown,  man's  corruption  and  condemnation, 
the  need  of  repentance  and  faith,  that  faith  in  Christ  as  a 
King,  and  a  Redeemer  as  well,  —  are  not  these  the  topics 


84  CHRIST,  A  HOME   MISSIONARY. 

still  applicable  and  never  trite,  of  which  the  Church  shall  not 
have  exhausted  the  glories,  or  fathomed  the  mysteries,  ages 
after  the  world  shall  have  been  consumed,  and  all  its  tribes 
shall  have  been  adjudged  to  heaven  or  to  hell  for  ever  ? 
Your  laborers  then  in  the  far  West  are  yet  carrying  abroad 
the  same  gospel  which  Christ  bore  in  weariness  to  the  city  of 
Samaria,  and  scattered  along  the  shores  of  the  lake  Gennesa- 
reth,  and  published,  as  he  walked  the  streets  of  Jerusalem, 
or  stood  and  cried  in  the  thronged  courts  of  the  temple.  * 

4.  But  in  the  manner,  too,  in  which  he  published  his  mes- 
sage, it  was  said  that  our  Lord  had  shown  himself  the  great 
exemplar  of  the  Home  Missionary.  In  this  single  feature, 
had  he  manifested  no  other  claim  to  a  divine  mission,  our 
Lord  proved  himself  endowed  with  superhuman  wisdom. 
We  refer  to  the  means  he  selected  for  propagating  his  reli- 
gion amongst  mankind.  There  had  lived  in  the  Gentile 
world  men  of  high  intellectual  endowments,  who  had  dis- 
cerned the  ignorance  and  corruption  of  their  age,  and  aspired 
to  become  its  reformers.  But  although  some  were  deified  for 
their  fancied  success,  futile  had  been  their  endeavors ;  and 
most  cumbrous  yet  most  imbecile  the  instrumentalities,  upon 
which  they  had  chosen  to  rely.  Some  had  been  legislators, 
bequeathing  to  their  fellow  citizens  new  forms  of  government ; 
others,  warriors  appealing  to  brute  force,  and  imposing  by  the 
strong  hand  of  power  their  improvements  upon  the  feebler 
race  whom  they  had  subdued ;  others  resorted  to  what  they 
deemed  allowable  and  pious  frauds,  forging  prophecies,  in- 
venting mysteries,  and  bribing  oracles  ;  others  philosophized, 
and  yet  others,  employed  the  elegant  arts  to  soften  and  to 
better  the  human  character.  But  none  of  them  knew  aright 
the  might  of  the  Leviathan  they  affected  to  curb  and  tame. 
Man,  though  disguised  by  civilization,  and  adorned  by  science 
and  art,  was  still  the  same  selfish  and  godless  savage  at  heart, 
that  he  had  ever  been.  Mutually  wronged  and  wronging, 
the  race  were  yet,  as  Paul  too  truly  described  them,  hateful 
and  hating  one  another.  Of  the  depth  of  corruption  into 
which  alike  the  Jew  who  boasted  of  a  law  he  would  not  keep, 
and  the  Gentile,  whom  he  scorned,  were  sunk  at  the  time  of 
Christ's  coming,  Paul  has  told  us  in  language  of  fearful  sig- 
nificancy.  How  dreadfully  the  history  of  the  world  filled  up 
the  gloomy  outlines  that  master-hand  had  drawn  in  the  open- 
ing of  his  epistle  to  the  Romans,  I  need  not  say  to  you.  And 
yet  all  this  went  on,  in  spite  of  efforts  the  most  earnest,  the 


CHRIST,   A   HOME   MISSIONARr.  85 

most  varied,  and  the  most  costly,  to  check,  or  at  least  to  con- 
ceal the  evil.  But  it  was  only  to  varnish  putridity,  and  to 
gild  over  decay,  that  these  earthly  reformers  came.  Of  ever 
profiting  the  vast  mass  of  the  people,  the  most  intelligent  of 
these  sages  despaired.  They  had  no  hope  except  for  the 
wise  and  the  lettered  portion  of  society.  To  these  they  spoke 
in  veiled  and  guarded  language.  For  these,  their  select 
hearers  able  to  bear  it,  they  had  an  internal  or  esoteric  doc- 
trine. To  the  multitude  they  held  out  doctrines  often  utterly 
the  opposite  of  these  their  private  teachings  ;  and  the  poor 
and  the  ignorant  they  looked  upon  as  an  inferior  kind,  like 
the  *  brute  beasts  made  to  be  taken  and  destroyed ;'  to  be 
entrapped  by  error,  and  given  over  to  unpitied  ruin.  As  the 
larger  portion  of  mankind  will  ever  be  found  in  the  classes  of 
neglected  and  restricted  education,  to  despair  of  the  poor  and 
of  the  many,  was  virtually  to  despair  of  the  well  being  of  the 
race.* 

Another  obstacle,  which  these  reformers  felt  themselves 
incompetent  to  assail,  was  found  in  the  false  but  received 
religions.  To  change  the  religion  of  a  whole  nation,  when 
once  established,  was  deemed  an  impossibility.  Plato,  among 
the  wisest  of  Grecian  schemers,  makes  it  an  axiom  in  his 
celebrated  treatise  of  a  republic,  "  that  nothing  ought  to  be 
changed  by  the  legislator  in  the  religion  which  he  finds 
already  established ;  and  that  a  man  must  have  lost  his  under- 
standing to  think  of  such  a  project^^  Yet  not  to  change  the 
religion  of  on§  nation  only,  but  of  all  nations,  is  Jesus  Christ 
come.  Look  at  the  varied  forms  of  error  that  met  him,  all 
obstinate  by  the  force  of  ancient  and  inherited  prejudices, 
and  by  the  violence  of  the  passions  they  indulged  and  sanc- 
tified, and  made  venerable  in  the  eyes  of  the  people  by  the 

^  A  similar  feeling  with  regard  to  the  multitude,  the  reader  may  remem- 
ber, has  marked  many  of  the  reformers-  of  modern  times,  who  have  claimed 
to  release  the  world  from  the  dominion  of  Christianity.  The  private  corres- 
pondence of  the  patriarch  of  French  infidelity, — whom  his  disciples  were 
accustomed  to  hail,  in  language  borrowed  from  that  Bible  at  which  they 
scoffed,  as  their  "  Father  of  the  Faithful," — contains  the  following  passage. 
It  is  in  a  letter  to  his  fellow-laborer  D'Alembert,  and  when  congratulating 
his  friend  on  the  progress  of  their  principles  :  "  Let  us  bless  this  happy  revo- 
lution, that  has  within  the  last  fifteen  or  twenty  years  taken  place  in  the 
minds  of  all  respectable  people  {toiis  les  honnhes gens.)  It  has  outrun  my 
hopes.  As  to  the  rabble^  1  meddle  not  ivith  them;  the  rabble  they  will  always 
revnain.  lam  at  pains  to  cidtivate  my  garden,  but  yet  it  will  have  its  toads  ; 
they  shovM  not  however  prevent  my  nightiyigales  from  singing^  —  Lettres 
de  M.  de  Voltaire  et  de  M.  D'Alembert,  211. 

t  Warburton's  Divine  Legation,  Book  iii.  §  6. 
8 


86  CHRIST,   A   HOME   MISSIONARY. 

lapse  of  time.     In  his  own  nation  he  encountered  truth  tena- 
ciously held,  but  held  perversely  and  partially,  and  in  all 
unrighteousness.     In  the  lettered  classes  of  the  Roman  em- 
pire, he  saw  a  band  of  learned  and  acute  triflers,  addicted  to 
a  heartless  and  endless  scepticism,  or  of  debauched  errorists, 
in  whose  minds  atheism  and  profligacy,  in  drunken  alliance, 
leaned  each  upon  the  other.     The  mass  of  the  nation  were 
the  corrupt  votaries  of  paganism,  in  its  most  corrupt  forms ; 
sensual  and  sanguinary,  they  had  become  enervated  by  luxury, 
.  and  yet  were  ravening  for  blood.     Equally  fierce  and  cruel, 
if  not  alike  sensual,  were  the  superstitions  of  the  savage 
hordes  whom  they  held  in  check,  or  retained  in  their  pay  on 
the  borders  of  the  empire.     In  the  East  were  the  worship- 
pers of  fire.     Arabia,  and  Persia,  and  India,  and  Scythia, 
and  Egypt,  all  had  their  national  idols.     The  inquiry  had 
been   made  by  Jeremiah  six  centuries  before,  "  Pass  over  the 
isles  of  Chittim  and  see  ;  and  send  unto  Kedar  and  consider 
diligently  and  see  if  there  be  such  a  thing.     Hath  a  nation 
changed   their   gods,  which   yet  are  no  gods  ? "     And   the 
inquiry,  made  as  if  to  challenge  an  instance  of  its  occurrence, 
had  remained  unanswered.     Yet  the  reputed  son  of  a  carpen- 
ter, a  man  of  Nazareth,  the  most  despised  city  of  the  Jews, 
the  most  despised  of  nations,  rises  up  to  make  the  attempt. 
And  what  are  his  resources?     Is  he  patronized   by  kings? 
Is  he  levying  armies,  and  equipping  fleets,  or  is  he  compiling 
new  codes  of  law,  or  despatching  ambassadors  and  forming 
treaties?     None  of  all  these  things.    But  perhaps  he  has  won 
to  his   party  the   sophists  of  Greece,  and   the  scholars  of 
Athens,  the   learned,  and   acute   and   eloquent  disciples  of 
Epicurus,  and  Zeno,  and  Plato,  are  retained  in  his  interests, 
and  are   disseminating   his  peculiar  sentiments  ?  —  Not  so, 
The  wisdom  of  this  world  he  has  counted  foolishness,  and  his 
doctrine  teaches  that  the  most  labored  result  of  human  intelli- 
gence has  been  confirmed  ignorance,  as  to  the  first  and  most 
obvious  of  all  truths,  —  that  the  wise  have  failed  to  spell  out 
the  handwriting  and  superscription  of  a  Creator,  though  found 
upon  all  his  works,  —  and  the  world  by  wisdom  knew  not 
God.     But  he  has  converted,  perhaps,  the  Sanhedrim,  and 
the  Rabbles  of  Israel ;  the  lights  of  the  law  and  the  oracles 
of  the  people  are  with  him  ?     No,  he  has  denounced  them 
with  fearless  severity,  and  they  are  plotting  his  death.     But 
Herod  is  in  his  favor,  and  Pilate  is  his  friend  ?  —  No,  Herod 
is  seeking  to  see  him,  in  vain,  dreading  in  him  the  resurrec- 


CHRIST,   A   HOME   MISSIONARY.  87 

tion  of  the  Baptist  he  had  slain ;  and  Pilate  is  neither  con- 
cerned nor  able  to  give  him  protection  from  the  fury  of  his 
own  nation.  But  the  Reformer  moves  on,  nothing  daunted. 
Unlike  all  others  who  despised  the  people,  or  despaired  of 
them,  he  addresses  himself  to  the  poor  and  the  ignorant.  It 
is  the  mass  of  the  nation  he  hopes  first  to  reach.  But  what 
are  his  arts  of  persuasion  with  the  people  ?  Does  he  hold 
out  the  lure  of  wealth,  or  earthly  honors,  or  pleasure  ?  Is 
he  slipping  the  leash  of  law  and  order  from  the  passions  of 
the  multitude,  and  cheering  them  on  to  the  prey  that  is  before  . 
them  in  the  possessions  of  the  wealthy?  He  honestly  assures 
his  auditory  that  they  must  expect  to  lose  all  in  following 
him,  that  his  poorest  followers  must  become  yet  poorer,  and 
that  his  disciples  are  doomed  men,  bearing  their  own  crosses 
on  their  way  to  death.  He  writes  no  books.  He  forms  no 
plots.  He  meddles  not  with  political  strife ;  nor  interferes 
with  religious  sects,  but  to  denounce  them  all,  and  to  turn 
their  combined  enmity  on  his  single  and  unsheltered  head. 
And  the  weapon  by  which  he  is  to  foil  all  his  enemies,  and 
to  subdue  the  world  to  the  obedience  of  the  faith,  is  —  hear 
it,  O  heavens,  and  be  astonished,  O  earth ! — ^the  foolishness  of 
preaching,  —  the  plain  tale  of  man  to  his  fellow  men  concern- 
ing God  and  his  Christ.  By  the  preaching  of  the  word,  and 
especially  to  the  poor,  Christ  is  come  to  change  the  face  of 
society.  Jesus  Christ  was,  indeed,  the  discoverer  of  these 
two  great  truths,  that  all  reformations  must  begin  with  the 
lower  classes,  and  that  preaching  is  the  grand  instrument  of 
changing  the  opinions  of  a  nation.  The  latter  had  indeed 
been  used  in  the  older  dispensation,  but  its  applicability  to 
such  a  scheme  as  that  of  the  world's  conversion,  had  never 
been  suspected.  Yet  how  well  established  are  both  now 
become.  The  man,  who  in  endeavoring  to  heat  a  mass  of 
water,  should  build  his  fire  above  the  fluid,  would  in  physics 
be  but  as  absurdly  employed,  as  the  man  who  in  morals  looks 
to  the  highest  points  of  a  corrupt  society  as  the  first  to  be 
reformed.  As  in  the  heated  liquid,  the  lower  stratum  when 
warmed  passes  upward,  and  gives  place  to  another  still  cold, 
which  is  in  its  turn  penetrated  with  heat,  and  then  displaced 
by  the  descending  of  yet  another ;  so  in  the  moral  world,  the 
only  efficient  reforms  are  the  reforms  that  begin  at  the  lower 
portion  of  society,  and  work  upward.  It  was  so  in  the  first 
preaching  of  the  gospel.  It  was  so  in  the  English  Reforma- 
tion.   It  was  so  in  the  religious  influence  that  followed  the 


88  CHRIST,   A   HOME    MISSIONARY. 

labors  of  Wesley  and  Whitefield.  And  Jesus  Christ  first 
discovered  and  first  applied  this  great  but  simple  principle, 
that  to  the  poor  the  gospel  should  be  preached.  Again  let  us 
consider  the  character  of  the  instrumentality  he  selected.  It 
was  the  cheapest  of  all  implements.  And  where  the  many 
were  to  be  reached  by  many  laborers,  and  the  poor  by  the 
poor,  its  cheapness  was  a  matter  of  no  little  moment.  A 
book  would  be  worn  out,  ere  it  had  taught  a  thousand  read- 
ers, or  travelled  a  hundred  miles.  The  living  teacher  might 
go  on  from  land  to  land,  and  instruct  myriads  after  myriads. 
If  the  book  were  unskilfully  composed,  its  errors  must  remain 
unchanged.  If  addressed  to  one  class  originally,  one  class 
only  it  continued  to  the  end  to  interest.  The  living  evange- 
list varied  his  message  and  form  of  address,  as  varying 
circumstances  required,  and  appealed  in  different  modes  to 
the  differing  habits  of  the  regions  and  classes  through  which 
he  passed.  The  book  might  meet  many  who  knew  not  how 
to  read,  but  all  might  hear  the  living  voice.  The  book  could 
not  solicit  the  careless  to  hear,  or  pursue  the  wanderer  who 
fled  from  reproof.  The  living  teacher  sought  his  auditory  in 
the  retreats  whither  they  betook  themselves.  The  book  was 
a  cold  and  unimpassioned  abstraction.  The  preacher  was  a 
living,  breathing  thing,  appealing  to  all  the  sympathies  of 
man's  nature.  His  countenance,  his  gestures,  his  tones,  all 
sought  and  won  him  the  attention  of  men.  And  it  was  left 
for  Jesus  Christ  to  discover  that  this  was  the  great  instru- 
mentality for  correcting  the  popular  faith  of  a  nation,  as 
being  the  cheapest,  and  as  having  the  widest  range  of  in- 
fluence, the  utmost  variety  in  its  applicability,  and  the  greatest 
power  and  life  in  its  appeals.  We  speak  considerately  when 
we  say,  that  the  institution  of  preaching  as  the  great  means 
of  national  illumination  and  conversion,  is  not  one  of  the  least 
among  the  evidences  of  the  Saviour's  superhuman  wisdom, 
and  consequently  another  argument  for  his  divine  mission. 

Now  while  the  stationary  pastor,  in  the  more  abundantly 
supplied  districts  of  a  Christian  land,  may  claim  to  labor  in 
this  our  Lord's  appointed  mode,  the  preaching  of  the  word, 
i^^y  you  not  assume,  that  to  the  Home  Missionary  belongs 
eminently  the  honor  of  preaching  to  the  poor,  and  of  caring 
for  the  neglected  and  destitute,  the  class  to  whom  Christ  him- 
self chiefly  addressed  his  gospel,  and  in  its  being  addressed  to 
whom,  he  bade  the  anxious  Baptist  and  his  disciples  recognize 
one  of  the  many  proofs  of  his  Messiahship  ?     The  laborer  in 


CHRIST,   A   HOME   MISSIONARY.  89 

the  field  of  Home  Missions  is  applying  therefore  the  favorite 
instrumentality  of  his  Lord  in  his  Lord*s  favorite  mode.  And 
upon  this  instrumentality,  it  is  your  instruction  to  them  that 
they  chiefly  rely.  And  while  they  may  scatter  the  tract,  and 
gather  the  Sabbath-school,  and  use  every  other  means  that 
may  aid  man  in  the  knowledge  of  his  God,  their  main  busi- 
ness, and  your  great  charge  to  them  given,  is  that  "  as  ye  go, 
jpreachr 

5.  We  have  seen  that  in  the  manner  of  publishing  his 
message,  our  Lord  was  not  unlike  the  laborers  whom  you 
employ.  Let  us  lastly  observe  the  comparison  you  may 
institute  with  the  ministry  of  our  Lord,  in  the  similar  means 
adopted  for  the  support  of  the  laborer.  Christ  did  not,  then, 
like  the  established  priesthood  of  Israel,  find  himself  sustained 
by  the  tithes  of  the  land.  No  State  furnished  from  her  rev- 
enues the  endowments  of  his  mission,  or  taxed  her  subjects  to 
secure  through  his  means  their  spiritual  good.  The  free 
contributions  of  those  whom  he  instructed,  enlightened  and 
saved,  were  the  only  revenues  to  which  he  looked.  And 
these,  you  will  observe,  were  given  not  to  sustain  him  in  his 
labors  for  the  donors,  so  much  as  to  aid  him  in  journeying 
onward  to  benefit  others.  The  frugal  meal  and  the  sheltering 
roof  were  the  reward  that  poverty  gave  for  words  such  as 
never  man  spake.  Salvation  came  to  the  house  he  visited, 
and  when  he  parted,  his  blessing  was  left  with  its  inmates. 
But  in  addition,  he  seems  to  have  received  from  time  to  time, 
of  the  free-will  offerings,  which,  from  their  abundance  or  their 
'  penury,  his  disciples  contributed,  to  meet  the  wants  of  the 
morrow,  when  he  should  have  reached  a  distant  hamlet,  and 
be  discoursing  to  a  new  auditory.  These  contributions  one 
of  the  apostles  bore,  and  dispensed  to  meet  the  necessities  of 
that  wayfaring  company.  Pious  women  followed  him,  minis- 
tering of  their  substance. 

Now  it  is  to  such  resources  that  your  enterprise  looks. 
You  have  not  been  subsidized  from  the  national  treasury. 
Nor  have  your  missionaries  been  empowered  or  been  willing, 
to  sit  them  down  at  the  receipt  of  custom,  collecting  from  the 
traffic  of  the  land  a  stinted  tithe,  in  acknowledgment  of  the 
temporal  blessings  with  which  the  gospel  has  enriched  every 
walk  of  society.  To  the  free  gratuities  of  Christians,  them- 
selves benefitted  by  the  gospel,  and  anxious  to  spread  before 
others  the  word  that  God  has  made  the  power  of  salvation 
to  their  own  souls,  —  to  their  spontaneous  alms,  gathered 
8# 


90  CHRIST,   A   HOME    MISSIONARY. 

unequally  and  rather  according  to  the  willingness  of  the  heart, 
than  the  fulness  of  the  hands,  you  have  been  compelled  to 
look  as  your  only  treasures.  And  though  the  store  has  often 
seemed  well  nigh  spent,  ever  wasting,  it  has  been  ever  renew- 
ing itself,  like  the  widow's  cruse,  still  as  it  was  emptied,  still 
by  the  goodness  of  Providence  mysteriously  replenished. 
And  the  relief  thus  given  has  resembled  that  which  sustained 
our  Lord's  own  personal  ministry,  in  the  fact,  that  it  was  not 
the  giver's  own  benefit  that  was  immediately  sought.  The 
Christian  supports  at  home  his  pastor  to  preach  to  himself 
and  to  his  children,  but  he  supports  the  Home  Missionary  to 
preach  to  his  destitute  neighbors.  It  was  in  this  way  that  the 
disciples  of  our  Saviour  sustained  their  master,  not  expecting 
it  as  the  condition  of  their  gratuities,  that  he  should  continue 
day  after  day  to  bless  with  his  lengthened  stay  their  own 
hamlets  and  households,  but  that  he  might  journey  onward 
from  village  to  village,  and  city  to  city  of  their  native  land. 

The  Redeemer,  then,  in  his  own  personal  efforts  as  an  evan- 
gelist, gave  himself  to  the  very  work  in  which  your  Society 
is  toiling,  the  supply  of  the  religious  destitutions  of  your  own 
land.  And  ere  we  pass,  let  it  be  remembered,  that  upon 
principles  unlike  the  timorous  and  stealthy  policy,  which  his 
church  in  the  days  of  persecution  adopted,  of  choosing  rather 
as  the  scene  of  her  labors,  the  retired  valley,  and  the  remote 
and  safe  wilderness,  Christ,  as  we  see  in  the  words  of  our 
text,*  and  in  the  whole  record  of  the  gospels,  sought  to  plant 
his  word,  though  in  the  face  of  fiercer  opposition  and  surer 
and  greater  risk,  in  the  towns  and  cities  of  the  land.  He 
bade  his  disciples,  in  times  of  persecution  in  one  city,  to  flee 
indeed,  but  it  was  only  to  another  city ;  and  their  ministry 
he  at  the  same  time  describes,  as  a  going  over  the  cities  of 
Israel.  He  chose  these  as  the  scenes  of  labor,  for  his  work 
was  with  men,  and  men  were  there  to  be  found  in  the  greatest 
number.  He  did  so,  because  his  hours  were  few,  and  there 
the  greatest  effects  might  be  wrought  in  the  shortest  time. 
He  did  so,  because  his  gospel  was  the  remedy  of  human  de- 
pravity and  misery,  and  in  the  crowded  dwellings  of  man,  his 
depravity  assumes  its  most  aggravated  forms,  and  his  suffer- 

*  See  also  Luke  4 :  43.  How  rigidly  the  early  preachers  adhered  to  our 
Lord's  plan  in  the  dissemination  of  the  gospel,  appears  from  the  fact,  that  the 
inhabitants  of  the  cities  in  the  Roman  empire  had  become  nominally  Chris- 
tian, while  the  rural  population  remained  yet  plunged  in  idolatry,  and  the 
word  Pagan,  or  villager  (paganus)  became  synonymous  with  heathen. 


CHRIST,   A   HOME   MISSIONARY.  91 

ings  are  most  intense  and  distressing.  He  did  so,  because 
these  are  the  points  of  radiation,  around  which  the  character 
of  the  whole  nation  crystalizes  and  becomes  fixed,  and  in 
ancient  as  in  modern  times,  the  impress  of  the  metropolis  is 
to  some  extent  seen  upon  the  most  distant  and  rude  of  the 
rural  population.  Ever  then  may  it  be  the  prayer  and  the 
policy  of  this  Society,  acting  upon  the  like  principles,  to  plant 
its  missionaries  in  the  towns  and  cities  of  our  land,  till  they 
be  fully  supplied  with  the  preaching  of  the  gospel. 

Yet  let  it  not  be  supposed,  that  we  would  exalt  the  impor- 
tance of  Home  Missions  at  the  expense  of  the  foreign  field. 
We  believe  the  latter,  if  a  division  and  a  choice  were  admis- 
sible, (which  they  are  not,)  we  should  believe  the  latter,  the 
more  needful  work  of  the  church.  It  was  indeed  one  of  the 
characteristics  of  the  superiority  of  the  new,  over  the  older 
dispensations,  that  it  looked  beyond  all  the  former  boundaries 
of  national  prejudice  and  selfishness,  and  taught  men  that  the 
field  of  benevolence  is  the  world.  Our  Saviour  himself, 
during  his  own  more  restricted  ministry,  alluded  to  these 
designs  of  mercy  for  the  Gentile.  In  his  discourses  at 
Nazareth  he  called  his  hearers  to  observe,  that  the 
Gentile  widow  of  Zarephath  had  been  honored  by  en- 
tertaining a  prophet  of  God,  when  the  many  widows  of 
Israel  were  passed  by,  and  that  the  leprous  nobleman  of 
heathenish  Syria  had  been  miraculously  healed,  while  the 
many  lepers  of  Israel  were  left  unrelieved.  This  was  a 
theme  the  Jews  could  least  of  all  things  endure.  They  thrust 
the  Saviour  from  their  city,  and  would  have  killed  him, 
just  as  in  succeeding  years,  their  countrymen  at  Jerusalem 
heard  Paul  patiently,  until  he  mentioned  a  divine  mission  to 
the  Gentiles,  when  they  exclaimed,  away  with  him,  he  is  not 
fit  to  live.  Christ  from  the  beginning  contemplated  foreign 
missions  as  the  field  of  his  church ;  but  his  own  was  a  Home 
Mission.  And  while  the  church,  from  his  teachings,  and  the 
example  of  his  apostles,  learns  to  regard  Foreign  Missions  as 
her  chief  care,  she  cannot  sever  it  from  the  work  of  Home 
Missions.  They  are  indissolubly  united,  and  each  needs  the 
other, — the  farther  and  the  nearer  sides  of  the  same  great  net ; 
the  fishers  of  men  are  needed  alike,  to  bear  the  one  into  the 
bosom  of  the  deep,  and  to  guard  the  other  along  the  edge  of 
the  shore.  The  true  interests  of  each  are  necessarily  ad- 
vanced by  the  growth  of  the  other. 

II.  We  have  seen  our  Lord  himself  devoting  the  years  of 
his  personal  ministry  to  the  preaching  of  the  gospel  through- 


92  CHRIST,    A   HOME    MISSIONARY. 

out  his  own  country.  With  such  a  sanction  of  your  en- 
deavors, what  motives  are  needed  to  impel  you  ?  His  ex- 
ample to  guide,  His  presence  to  uphold,  and  His  Spirit  to 
prosper  you, — if  the  Lord  be  thus  for  you  in  the  splendor  of 
his  example,  for  you  in  his  promises,  and  for  you  in  his 
wonder-working  Spirit,  who  can  be  against  you  ?  Whether 
we  look  to  the  advantages  which  our  nation  presents  for  such 
labor,  or  to  its  peculiar  necessities,  to  our  duty  as  Christians, 
or  our  interests  as  men  loving  their  country,  to  the  general 
obligations  of  the  church,  or  our  own  personal  and  special 
privileges  and  responsibilities, — on  every  hand  are  teeming 
incitements  to  energy  and  liberality,  to  perseverance  and 
courageous  devotedness. 

1.  Do  we  speak  of  the  advantages,  which  our  wide-spread 
land  presents  for  labor  of  this  kind  ?  We  cannot  forget,  that 
here  are  none  of  the  impediments  of  an  adverse  government, 
and  an  alien  nation  suspicious  of  your  missionaries  as  foreign 
emissaries, — impediments  with  which  the  laborer  abroad  must 
ever  contend.  From  the  St.  Lawrence  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico, 
and  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  yet  onward 
to  the  coasts  of  the  Pacific,  a  broad  and  goodly  land  is  open 
or  opening  before  you, — not  the  land  of  strangers,  but  your 
own  native  soil,  blest  with  free  institutions,  and  a  government 
springing  from  and  accountable  to  the  people.  Its  free  in- 
stitutions invite  the  free  and  glad  labors  of  the  Missionary. 
The  national  appetite  for  knowledge,  and  the  many  endow- 
ments and  appliances  for  the  diffusion  of  knowledge,  promise 
you  aid,  in  bringing  before  the  national  intellect  the  only 
knowledge  that  is  of  unmingled  truth,  and  immutable  value. 
The  land  is  inhabited  by  a  people,  not-divided  and  isolated,  as 
are  the  possessors  of  equal  spaces  of  territory  in  the  old  world, 
by  the  varieties  of  dialect  and  languages,  which  make  man 
seem  as  a  barbarian  to  his  neighbor,  separated  from  him  but 
by  a  river,  or  a  range  of  mountains.  The  language  of  your 
forefathers,  the  language  in  which  your  household  bibles  are 
written,  is  that  which  its  cities,  and  its  hamlet,  and  its  farm- 
houses alike  acknowledge  —  which  its  colonists  are  carrying 
into  the  depths  of  the  forest,  and  the  seeds  of  which  its  adven- 
turous mariners  are  scattering  along  every  shore  smitten  by 
their  keels.  To  make  yet  more  plain  your  duties,  and  to 
render  the  wise  and  beneficent  purposes  of  his  Providence 
yet  more  easy  of  translation  to  the  reason  and  the  conscience 
of  this  people,  God  has  made  their  country  the  point  of 
attraction  to  the  oppressed  or  the  needy  of  other  lands,  and 


CHRIST,    A   HOME    MISSIONARY.  93 

the  eyes  of  many  and  distant  nations  are  fixed  upon  you. 
Our  Heavenly  Father  has  made  us  a  national  epistle  to  other 
lands.  See  that  you  read  a  full  and  impressive  comment  to 
11  lands,  of  the  power  of  Christian  principle,  and  of  the 
xpansive  and  self  sustaining  energies  of  the  gospel,  when 
ft  unfettered  by  national  endowments,  and  secular  alliances, 
riie  evangelical  character  of  our  land  is  to  tell  upon  the  plans 
and  destinies  of  other  nations.  See  to  it,  that  the  men,  who 
quote  your  democracy,  and  your  enterprise,  your  energy  and 
your  increase,  be  compelled  by  glaring  evidence,  which  they 
may  not  dispute,  and  cannot  conceal,  to  add,  that  for  your 
freedom  and  all  its  better  fruits,  you  are  indebted  to  the 
religion  of  the  Saviour  borne  throughout  the  length  and 
breadth  of  your  land.  And  last  among  the  advantages  with 
which  God  has  endowed  you,  and  bound  you,  as  it  were,  to 
this  work,  let  me  name  the  amount  of  uneducated  or  perverted 
mind,  which  He  is  daily  quarrying  from  the  mines  of 
European  superstition,  and  from  the  place  where  Satan's  seat 
is,  and  casting  down  upon  our  shores  to  be  inserted  into  the 
rising  walls  of  your  republic.  At  home  it  was  comparative- 
ly beyond  your  reach.  The  jealousy  of  priestly  and  of 
kingly  rule  guarded  it  from  your  approach.  God  has 
brought  it  disencumbered  to  your  shores.  Will  you  meet  it 
with  the  gospel  —  will  you  follow  it  to  its  western  homes 
with  the  Missionary  ?  Your  prayers  have  ascended  to  God 
in  behalf  of  those  perishing  in  the  darkness  of  false  religion 
in  other  lands.  Your  prayers  have  been  answered,  as  God 
is  wont  to  answer  even  his  own  people,  in  the  mode  and  the 
hour  they  were  perhaps  least  prepared  to  expect  the  boon ; 
and  while  your  souls  thought  only  of  the  subjects  of  your 
petitions,  as  dwellers  on  a  foreign  shore,  He  has  in  his  won- 
drous working  made  them  already  the  denizens  of  your  own 
land,  and  the  crowds,  to  whom  you  had  hoped  to  send  the 
Foreign  Missionary,  have  already  besieged  your  doors  to  ask 
the  easier,  and  the  cheaper,  care  of  your  Home  Missions. 
Their  souls  are  evidently  as  valuable  here,  as  they  would 
have  been  if  sought  out  by  your  messengers  on  their  native 
soil,  and  there  won  to  the  faith  of  Christ.  You  know  not, 
but  that,  although  transplanted  to  this  soil,  they  may  still  re- 
tain a  hold  so  strong  on  the  affections,  and  an  influence  so 
controlling  on  the  character  and  destinies  of  the  kindred  and 
countrymen  they  have  left  behind,  that  converted  here  by  the 
labors  of  your  Home  Missions,  they  may  become  the  allies, 


94  CHRIST,   A   HOME   MISSIONARY. 

or  the  channels,  or  themselves  the  chosen  instruments  of  your 
Foreign  Missions  to  the  lands  whence  they  came.  It  was 
thus  in  the  declining  ages  of  the  Roman  empire,  that  the 
hordes  of  Paganism,  disgorged  from  their  own  native  seats 
upon  the  imperial  territories,  became  themselves  christianized 
by  the  nation  they  had  invaded,  and  evangelized  the  paternal 
tribes  they  had  quitted.  Let  us,  then,  regard  the  emigrants 
around  us,  not  as  invaders,  but  as  the  exiles  of  a  country,  of 
which  they  or  their  children  may  yet  become  the  evangelists. 
Let  us  count  wisely  and  gratefully  the  number  of  the 
deathless  spirits,  who  have  thus  been  ushered,  under  the  most 
favorable  circumstances,  into  our  borders.  Many  of  them 
have  been  the  nurslings  of  a  corrupt  or  careless  hierarchy ; 
and  torn  from  the  breasts  of  European  error,  they  are  now 
committed  by  the  hand  of  Providence  to  the  fostering  care  of 
your  Sabbath  Schools,  and  Bible  classes,  and  the  pioneer 
churches  planted  and  watered  by  the  care  of  your  Missionaries. 
2.  As  to  the  advantages,  so  to  the  necessities  of  our  case  we 
need  ever  to  look.  We  may  not  forget,  or  hold  negligently 
the  civil  privileges,  the  envied  but  the  fragile  inheritance 
which  -our  fathers  have  bequeathed  us.  The  strangers  day 
by  day  wafted  to  your  shores  become  your  fellow  sovereigns. 
They  choose  with  you  the  law-makers.  They  interpret  and 
modify,  sustain  or  subvert  your  Constitution.  If  not  con- 
verted, under  God,  by  you  to  the  faith,  they  will  with  the 
characteristic  energy  of  evil,  sacrifice  your  dearest  earthly 
interests  to  their  passions,  their  superstitions  and  their  crimes. 
Your  written  constitutions,  your  declarations  of  right  and  of 
national  independence,  your  books  of  statute  law  and  of  prece- 
dent, contain  in  themselves  no  inherent  principle  of  vitality. 
They  operate  and  have  life,  but  in  proportion  as  that  life  is 
infused  into  them  by  the  feelings  and  conscience  of  the  nation. 
The  reign  of  violence  has  passed  ;  men  talk  now  of  the  reign 
of  written  constitutions.  But  parchment  and  paper  cannot  give 
freedom,  or  uphold  it  when  given.  Ours  is  a  government  of 
public  opinion,  and  each  day  the  channels,  by  which  that 
public  opinion  may  act  upon  the  laws,  tribunals  and  treaties 
of  the  nation,  seem  shortening  and  widening,  turning  each  day 
a  fuller  and  more  direct  and  more  rapid  stream  upon  the 
ostensible  rulers,  and  the  written  laws  of  the  nation.  In  the 
formation  of  this  sovereign  principle  of  opinion,  your  new- 
found fellow  citizens  wish  to  share,  and  cannot  but  share, 
even  did  they  not  wish  it.    If  not  educated  and  sanctified, 


CHRIST,   A   HOME   MISSIONARY.  95 

they  will  only  lower  and  dilute  the  tone  of  public  morals, 
already  alas,  too  evidently  declining ;  and  a  vitiated  public 
opinion  wdll  send  its  reeking  corruption  into  your  senate- 
chambers,  your  halls  of  justice,  your  schools,  your  ware- 
houses, and  your  homes,  until  licentiousness,  and  profaneness, 
and  violence,  like  the  curse  of  Egypt,  be  found  a  croaking 
and  slimy  plague  infesting  the  whole  land.  Nor  may  we  hide 
from  ourselves  the  fact,  that  unfriendly  influences  of  the  most 
seductive  character  are  busy — that  the  work  of  natural  cor- 
ruption is  not  left  to  its  own  natural  course,  but  superstitions, 
which  have  in  other  lands  and  ages  held  the  wildest  sway,  are 
assiduously  engaged  in  the  work  of  education  and  proselytism 
amongst  us ; 

And  bold  with  Joy, 
Forth  from  his  dark  and  lonely  hiding-place, 
(Portentous  sight,)  the  owlet  Atheism, 
Sailing  on  obscene  wings  athwart  the  noon, 
Drops  his  blue-fringed  lids,  and  holds  them  close, 
And  hooting  at  the  glorious  sun  in  heaven, 
Cries  out,  "  Where  is  it  V  "  * 

And  yet  amid  these  dangers,  that  self-gratulation  "which 
goeth  before  a  fall "  as  surely  in  a  nation  as  in  the  individual, 
is  so  evident,  as  to  be  imputed  to  us  as  a  national  foible. 
Privileges,  singular  and  great,  we  indeed  have  ;  but  the  only 
light  in  which  it  is  safe  to  view  them,  is  that  of  the  corres- 
ponding obligations  they  impose.  Signal  mercies,  if  misused, 
must  provoke  judgments  as  signal ;  and  American  Christians, 
if  unfaithful  to  their  high  trust,  will  be  made  examples  of 
God*s  sore  indignation.  And  among  the  difficulties  of  our 
situation,  felt  not  indeed  except  by  the  church,  let  us  remem- 
ber the  demands  of  the  Foreign  Mission  field,  each  day  in- 
creasing. To  meet  these,  the  Home  Mission  enterprise  must 
be  sustained  by  the  churches  at  home,  until  made  by  its 
influence  united,  intelligent  and  devoted,  they  become  the 
camp  and  armory,  from  which  shall  be  sent  forth  yet  other 
and  more  numerous  levies  of  conscripts  for  the  foreign  service 
of  the  Church  of  Christ. 

3.  The  motives  which  urge  you  to  the  work,  in  view  of 
these  considerations,  will  naturally  suggest  themselves  to  all, 
and  are  alike  varied  and  powerful.  Self-interest  and  the 
love  of  kindred  furnish  them.     The  more  aged  amongst  us 

*  Coleridge. 


96  CHRIST,    A   HOME    MISSIONARY. 

cannot  but  desire  to  transmit  to  the  coming  generations,  un- 
impaired, the  immunities  and  blessings  they  received  them- 
selves from  those  who  went  before.  To  the  young  men  of 
our  churches,  we  might  speak  of  the  peculiar  interest  which, 
as  the  future  inheritors  of  the  land,  they  have,  to  escape  the 
evils  of  ignorance  and  irreligion,  and  to  avert,  if  it  may  be, 
the  storm  that  will  descend  on  the  quiet  graves  of  their 
fathers,  but  which  they  still  surviving  must  buifet  for  them- 
selves, or  be  swept  before  its  violence.  We  might  appeal  to 
your  love  of  man  as  such,  or  to  your  love  of  country,  and  ask 
on  these  grounds  your  alms  and  your  prayers  in  this  good 
work.  But  if  the  Roman  patriot  could  say  of  the  paramount 
force  and  engrossing  character  of  that  high  motive, —  love 
to  our  country  :  — "  Dear  are  the  charities  of  home  ;  dear 
are  parents,  and  dear  are  our  children ;  but  pur  one  country, 
yet  dearer,  combines  all  the  charities  of  us  all ; "  —  I  would 
speak  to  you,  brethren,  of  a  higher  love,  blending  with  and 
absorbing  as  well  this  as  all  minor  charities.  As  lovers  of 
your  country  I  might  urge,  and  as  lovers  of  your  kind  I 
might  require  you  ;  but  by  a  love  which  sanctifies,  and  itself 
surpasses  all  others,  I  beseech  you  ;  as  the  lovers  of  Christ,  or 
rather  let  me  say  as  the  beloved  of  Christ,  whom  he  has  loved 
to  the  death,  has  ransomed  and  is  sanctifying ;  give  to  this 
work  your  prompt  aid,  your  prayers  and  your  efforts.  And 
while  some  give  of  their  substance,  and  some  add  their  coun- 
sel, and  all  their  prayers,  are  there  not  yet  others  here,  who 
are  girding  themselves  to  a  costlier  offering,  and  who  are 
prepared  to  become  themselves  a  whole  burnt  offering  upon 
the  altars  of  the  church,  and  as  a  living  sacrifice  to  spend  and 
be  spent,  in  the  personal  labor  of  bearing  the  gospel  to  the 
destitute  ? 

In  the  consuming  flames  of  divine  charity,  our  Lord  be- 
came himself  a  willing  victim,  and  the  zeal  of  his  Father's 
house  devoured  him.  To  reach  and  rescue  you,  he  shrunk 
from  no  sacrifice.  Requite  him  by  love  intense  and  absorb- 
ing, like  that  love  which  it  reflects.  And  to  those  here,  who 
are  themselves  honored  by  their  personal  engagements  as  the 
missionary  preachers  of  the  church,  let  me  say :  Brethren, 
remember  in  your  most  painful  sacrifices,  in  the  most  distress- 
ing repulses  that  your  efforts  may  encounter,  you  can  never 
know  the  peculiar  agony  of  soul  which  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
as  a  Home  Missionary,  endured.  Among  the  most  affecting 
pages  in  the  history  of  David  Brainerd,  is  the  journal  of  that 


CHRIST,  A    HOME   MISSIONARY.  97 

Sabbath  which  he  spent  amid  the  idolatrous  revellings  of  the 
heathen,  who  had  refused  to  listen  to  his  teachings.  Destitute 
of  all  Christian  society,  he  had  retired  to  the  forest,  and  there 
in  desolate  loneliness  sat  him  down  with  his  Bible  in  his  hand, 
while  at  a  little  distance,  they  yelled  and  danced  in  honor  of 
their  demons.  Even  that  devoted  man  sunk  in  the  trial,  and 
describes  the  absence  of  all  sympathy  and  Christian  society 
as  making  this  the  most  burdensome  Sabbath  he  had  ever 
known.  Now  this  loneliness,  which  for  the  time  crushed 
even  the  spirit  of  a  Brainerd,  was  felt  by  our  Lord,  as  none 
else  could  feel  it.  There  was  no  heart  even  among  his  disci- 
ples, with  whom  he  could  have  true  and  entire  communion. 
Omniscient,  he  read  perpetually  the  evil  in  the  breasts  of  all 
that  surrounded  him.  All  was  naked  and  opened  to  him. 
The  ambition,  the  jealousy,  the  distrust,  and  the  avarice  of 
his  own  apostles,  the  malignant  hatred  to  God  and  all  good- 
ness that  filled  the  souls  of  the  impenitent  around  him,  were 
necessarily  and  ever  present  to  his  view.  And  he  himself 
was  all  purity,  entirely  and  intensely  abhorring  evil  in  its 
slightest  stains.  This  healthful  and  sensitive  purity  was 
condemned  to  be  continually  jostled  by  our  depravity,  and 
how  harshly,  in  the  rude  collision,  must  it  have  been  rasped 
by  the  hard,  dry,  scurf  of  our  moral  leprosy.  His  was  indeed 
a  peculiar  solitariness,  as  he  moved  a  sinless  one  among 
sinners.  The  anguish  of  this  loneliness,  this  daily  death, 
endured  by  our  Master,  we  may  never  know.  But  of  these 
the  sacrifices  of  his  love  we  do  well  often  to  think,  that  our 
own  may  be  rekindled. 

There  are  those  here,  who  giving  of  their  substance  and 
their  cares  to  the  good  work,  withhold  their  own  hearts. 
The  yoke  of  Christ,  which  is  easy,  their  necks  do  not  yet 
wear ;  and  his  burden,  which  is  light,  they  refuse  to  assume. 
Dwelling  in  cities  each  one  of  whose  moving  multitudes  lives, 
moves,  and  has  his  being  in  God, — or  the  tillers  of  fields 
which  He  only  has  blessed  with  fruitful  seasons,  filling  your 
hearts  with  food  and  gladness, — in  the  enjoyment  of  a  plenty, 
a  freedom  and  a  peace  which  Christ's  providence  gave, — in  the 
daily  hearing  of  his  commands,  and  with  his  sacrifice  for  sin 
hourly  before  your  view,  you  yield  him  no  love,  and  act  as  if 
you  owed  him  no  allegiance.  The  Giver  is  shut  out  from  the 
heart  by  barriers  which  his  own  gifts  have  been  employed  to 
form.  O,  remember  that  a  land  which  sends  forth  the  gospel 
to  other  lands,  a  community  that  sustain  the  missionary  to 
9 


98  CHRIST,   A   HOME   MISSIONARY. 

labor  amid  their  own  and  foreign  destitution,  as  they  are  the 
most  favored,  so  they  may  be  also  the  most  guilty  of  all  lands 
and  of  all  communities.  Remember  the  curse  of  Jerusalem, 
and  the  plagues  of  the  nation  whose  hills  had  been  traversed  by 
a  Saviour's  feet,  and  the  field  of  whose  home  missions  a  Sa- 
viour's own  tears  and  blood  had  watered.  Christ's  word  and 
Spirit  have  come  nigh  you  —  your  own  kindred  and  friends 
are  found  in  his  church.  And  God  grant  that  the  Redeemer 
who  has  thus  taught  in  your  streets,  and  wrought  wonders 
even  in  your  own  homes  and  households,  stand  not  up  in  the 
last  day,  an  incensed  and  inflexible  Judge,  to  condemn  you 
for  that  gospel  which  you  have  sent  to  others  but  rejected  for 
yourselves. 


EFFICIENCY  OF  PRIMITIVE   MISSIONS. 


BY 

BEV.    BARON    STOW. 

The  word  of  God  grew  and  multiplied.— Acts  12 :  24. 

The  success  of  the  first  Christians  in  their  missionary- 
enterprises,  has  long  been  regarded  as  one  of  the  most  re- 
markable facts  in  history.  Their  beginning  was  small,  and 
peculiarly  unpromising ;  but  in  less  time  than  has  elapsed 
since  William  Carey  commenced  in  Bengal,  they  had  preach- 
ed the  gospel  and  organized  churches  throughout  all  Pales- 
tine, and  almost  all  Asia  Minor,  through  Macedonia,  Greece, 
the  islands  of  the  -^gean  sea,  and  along  the  sea-coast  of 
Africa,  and  passed  on  to  Rome,  the  mistress  of  the  world. 
In  a  few  years  more,  they  were  found  doing  their  Master's 
work,  and  rejoicing  in  their  Master's  blessing,  in  every  known 
nation,  from  Cape  Comorin  to  Britain,  from  Scythia  to  the 
Pillars  of  Hercules.  A  historian  of  the  second  century  says 
that  in  his  time,  Asia,  Africa  and  Europe  "  abounded  with 
Christians." 

Yet  such  were  the  circumstances  under  which  Christianity 
was  then  propagated,  that  upon  the  ordinary  principles  of 
human  calculation,  any  man,  not  a  lunatic,  would  have  pro- 
nounced the  enterprise  impracticable.  A  candid  considera- 
tion of  these  circumstances  has  wrought  conviction  in  favor 
of  the  divinity  of  our  religion  in  many  a  mind  that  was 
utterly  impervious  to  every  other  species  of  evidence. 

Who  were  the  first  preachers  and  advocates  of  the  Christ- 
ian religion  ?  What  was  their  number  ?  What  their  origin, 
their  standing,  their  education,  their  personal  influence  ? 
Were  they  the  agents  that  human  sagacity  would  have  se- 
lected for  such  an  undertaking  ? 

What  was  the  character  of  the  religion  which  they  would 
propagate  ?     Was  it  such  as  the  world,  Jewish  and  Pagan, 


100  EFFICIENCY    OF   PRIMITIVE   MISSIONS. 

would  be  likely  to  welcome  with  grateful  enthusiasm  ?  What 
were  its  doctrines  ?  What  its  precepts  ?  What  did  it  pro- 
hibit ?     What  require  ? 

What  was  the  state  of  the  world,  the  whole  world,  to 
which  they  were  commanded  to  preach  the  gospel,  and  for 
whose  subjugation  to  Christ  they  were  pledged  to  labor  even 
unto  the  death  ?  Had  Judaism  become  superannuated  and 
decrepit,  so  that  its  hold  of  the  children  of  Abraham  could 
easily  be  relaxed,  and  Christianity,  with  little  difficulty,  be 
substituted  in  its  place  ?  Was  paganism  in  its  dotage,  and 
"ready  to  vanish  away?"  Did  the  systems  of  philosophy, 
then  popular,  pre-dispose  the  mind  of  the  age  to  a  prompt 
reception  of  such  a  system  as  that  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth  ? 

What  were  the  malignant  and  persevering  efforts,  not  only 
to  obstruct  the  progress  of  the  new  religion,  but  to  suppress 
and  exterminate  it  from  the  earth  ?  So  far  did  one  emperor, 
Diocletian,  proudly  imagine  that  he  had  succeeded,  that  he 
caused  a  medal  to  be  struck  with  the  inscription,  Nomine 
Christianorum  deletOy — the  Christian  name  obliterated. 

Yet  the  disciples  of  Christ,  nothing  daunted,  went  forward 
as  bidden  by  their  Lord,  and,  transcending  all  barriers,  and 
pressing  their  way  through  all  difficulties,  conveyed  the  life- 
giving  doctrine  to  millions  of  the  perishing,  and  caused  earth 
and  heaven  to  exult  together  over  its  wide-spread  and  salu- 
tary triumphs.  This  we  have  called  a  remarkable  fact.  The 
unbelieving  Gibbon  so  considered  it,  and,  without  venturing 
to  question  its  reality,  exhausted  his  rare  ingenuity  in  the 
attempt  to  account  for  it  upon  principles  that  should  exclude 
all  recognition  of  the  divine  original  of  the  system. 

There  is  another  remarkable  fact,  that  we  are  sure  will  be 
so  regarded  by  future  generations,  and  that  will  be  no  less 
perplexing  to  the  philosophic  historian ; — and  that  is.  The 
slow  progress  of  the  gospel  in  the  nineteenth  century.  The 
Karen  inquirer  says  to  our  missionary,  ''  If  so  long  time  has 
elapsed  since  the  crucifixion  of  Christ,  why  has  not  this  good 
news  reached  us  before  ?  Why  have  so  many  generations  of 
our  fathers  gone  down  to  hell  for  want  of  it  ? "  But  these 
are  not  the  questions  which  we  would  now  propose.  We  ask 
not,  How  is  it  that,  after  eighteen  hundred  years,  so  much  of 
the  world  is  covered  with  pagan  darkness  ?  We  ask  not, 
How  has  it  happened  that  for  more  than  a  thousand  years  so 
large  a  proportion  of  the  pagan  world  has  been  suffered  to 
remain  unvisited  by  Christian  heralds  ?     We  leave  it  for  our 


EFFICIENCY    OF   PRIMITIVE   MISSIONS.  101 

fathers,  now  in  eternity,  to  answer  for  themselves  to  their 
holy  Judge.  We  simply  inquire,  How  is  it  that  now,  as  the 
church  professes  to  understand  her  obligation,  she  does  not 
feel  its  pressure  and  act  in  accordance  with  its  dictates  ? 
How  is  it,  that  with  her  present  knowledge  of  the  heathen 
world,  her  aggregate  of  numbers,  her  intellectual  and  physic- 
al resources,  her  triumphs  are  so  comparatively  limited  ? 

Just  in  proportion  as  our  missionary  endeavors,  in  charac- 
ter, motive,  spirit,  resemble  those  of  the  primitive  church, 
they  are  unquestionably  as  effective.  But  let  us  compare 
our  circumstances  with  theirs,  and  who  will  account  for  the 
mighty  difference  between  the  results  of  their  missions  and 
ours  ? 

They  had  no  better  truth,  nor  more  of  it  than  we  have. 
The  gospel  which  we  preach  to  a  sinful  world  is  precisely 
the  same  as  they  preached.  It  has  lost  none  of  its  adapted- 
ness  to  man's  condition, — none  of  its  power  to  regenerate 
and  save. 

They  had  no  better  hearts  to  deal  with  than  we  have.  It 
does  not  appear  that  man  has  deteriorated,  either  in  intellect 
or  morals,  so  as  to  render  our  task  more  difficult  than  theirs. 
He  was  then  totally  depraved ;  he  is  only  that  now.  They 
did  not  find  the  heathen  more  accessible  or  more  susceptible 
of  impression  than  we  find  them.  The  minds  which  they 
addressed,  like  those  which  we  address,  were  pre-occupied  by 
opinions,  and  moulded  into  habits,  all  directly  and  sternly 
repugnant  to  the  spirit  of  Christianity.  Every  thing  that 
most  powerfully  influences  and  tyrannizes  over  the  human 
soul, — as  superstition,  custom,  policy,  interest,  pride,  passion, 
law,  philosophy,  religion, — was  decidedly  hostile  to  the  genius 
and  claims  of  the  gospel. 

The  divine  influence  that  accompanied  their  labors,  and 
without  which  even  they  would  have  been  unsuccessful,  was  not 
different  in  any  respect,  except  perhaps  in  amount,  from  that 
with  which  we  are  favored.  They  lived  under  the  dispensa- 
tion of  the  Spirit.  We  live  under  the  same  dispensation.  If 
the  Holy  Spirit  rendered  them  peculiarly  successful,  it  was 
not  an  act  of  arbitrary  sovereignty,  but  an  equitable  adjust- 
ment, proportioning  the  blessing  to  their  measure  of  fidelity 
and  devotedness.  Such  were  the  character  and  extent  of 
their  labors,  that  he  could  consistently  show  them  special 
favor.  In  blessing  them,  therefore,  he  offered  no  premium  to 
indolence,  gave  no  countenance  to  antinomian  presumption. 
9# 


102  EFFICIENCY   OF  PRIMITIVE   MISSIONS. 

Wlien  we  shall  live  and  labor  as  they  did,  we  shall  find, 
either  that  there  is  no  truth  in  the  promise,  or  that  our  exer- 
tions are  rendered  equally  effectual  by  the  Spirit's  energy. 

In  what  respect  did  the  ability  of  the  primitive  church 
surpass  ours  ?  Had  she  greater  wealth  or  intelligence,  or 
more  of  anything  which  we  reckon  under  the  denomination 
of  resources  ?  Was  her  ministry  distinguished  by  extraordi- 
nary talent,  or  superior  intellectual  training  ?  A  few,  we  admit, 
and  only  a  few,  were  divinely  inspired, — and  they  especially 
for  the  purpose  of  filling  up  the  canon  of  Scripture ;  but  who 
can  show  that  their  inspiration  gave  them  power  over  a  single 
heart,  or  added  a  single  convert  to  the  church  of  Christ  ? 

All  the  external  advantages  are  decidedly  in  our  favor. 
We  have  knowledge  of  the  state  of  the  world  which  they 
had  not.  We  have  greater  facilities  of  intercourse  both  by 
land  and  water.  We  have  the  printing-press,  a  potent  instru- 
ment, whose  powers,  not  yet  half  developed,  shall  astonish 
and  bless  the  nations.  We  have  equally  with  them  the  force 
of  the  argument  from  miracles  and  prophecy,  and  we  have 
the  additional  argument  derived  from  the  propagation  of 
Christianity,  its  indestructibleness  either  by  internal  corrup- 
tion or  external  oppression,  the  perpetuity  of  its  institutions, 
the  preservation  of  the  Scriptures,  the  continued  fulfilment 
of  prophecy,  and  the  benign  influence  of  the  gospel  upon 
individual,  domestic,  and  national  welfare.  Nor  should  we 
forget  the  fact,  that  the  missionary  enterprise  has  in  our  day 
secured  to  itself  no  small  portion  of  secular  respectability. 
Multitudes,  who  have  no  sympathy  with  its  nobler  aims,  are 
disposed  to  regard  it  with  favor,  and  to  aid  it  forward,  merely 
on  account  of  its  indirect  results.  If  in  our  main  object,  the 
salvation  of  souls  from  sin  and  death,  they  see  no  point  of  at- 
traction, yet  in  the  subserviency  of  missions  to  literature, 
science,  commerce,  civilization,  they  find  something  that  is 
congenial  to  their  taste,  something  which  as  scholars,  philan- 
thropists, merchants,  they  can  admire,  something  to  prompt 
them  to  be  liberal  to  a  degree  that  ought  to  shame  the  Chris- 
tian for  his  parsimony.  Foreign  missions  have  acquired  a 
character  and  a  position  in  the  public  mind,  to  which  in  the 
days  of  the  apostles  they  were  strangers. 

Yet  notwithstanding  circumstances  are  so  much  in  our 
favor,  they  made  advances  in  the  production  of  effect,  such 
as  we  have  never  witnessed.  Without  the  world's  favorite 
instrumentality,  learning,   eloquence,  wealth,   arms,  —  nay, 


EFFICIENCY    OF   PRIMITIVE   MISSIONS.  103 

vith  all  these  leagued  against  them^  and  in  the  face  of  them 
all,  the  primitive  church  expanded,  and  achieved  triumph 
after  triumph,  —  all  the  triumphs  of  truth  and  holiness.  AH 
the  apparatus  of  torture  and  death  was  brought  out  and  ar- 
rayed in  her  path  to  arrest  her  progress,  but  heedless  of  its 
terrors,  she  moved  forward  to  the  execution  of  her  lofty- 
purpose.  Some  of  her  most  malignant  foes  became  her  de- 
voted champions,  and  even  martyrs,  and  every  day  new 
territories  were  added  to  her  growing  empire.  Persecution 
often  kindled  her  fires,  and  with  her  blood  she  as  often  ex- 
tinguished them.  Her  progress  from  place  to  place  was 
marked  by  the  dethronement  of  idol  deities,  and  the  fall  of 
idol  temples ;  on  the  high  places  of  idolatry  she  planted  her 
banners ;  and  in  all  lands,  known  to  the  merchant,  the  trav- 
eller, the  warrior,  the  trophies  of  her  power  were  multiplied. 
"  So  mightily  grew  the  word  of  God  and  prevailed." 

The  question  recurs:  —  How  shall  we  account  for  this 
difference  in  efficiency,  between  their  missions  and  ours? 
The  suggestion  of  a  few  considerations  by  way  of  reply  naay 
not  be  unsuitable. 

I.  The  type  of  their  piety. 

The  piety  of  not  only  the  ministry,  but  of  the-  church  in 
general,  was  missionary  piety.  Just  suppose  that  the  great 
majority  of  Christians  were  as  spiritual,  as  dead  to  the 
world,  as  active  for  God,  as  we  require  our  missionaries  to 
be,  and  as  some  of  them  actually  are,  and  you  have  an  ap- 
proximation to  the  true  idea  of  the  religious  character  of  the 
early  church.  When  believers  then  gave  themselves  to 
Christ,  it  was  a  bona  fide  transaction.  They  did  not  enter 
his  service  as  an  experiment,  or  on  probation,  but  uncon- 
ditionally, unreservedly,  and  for  eternity.  They  gave  up  all 
for  him,  —  they  consecrated  all  to  him.  In  "  simplicity  and 
godly  sincerity,"  with  a  lively  sense  of  his  worthiness,  and  of 
the  legitimacy  of  his  claims,  they  surrendered  themselves, 
body  and  soul,  to  him  as  their  proprietor  and  ruler,  as 
well  as  Saviour  and  friend.  Willing  to  be  his,  desirous 
to  be  his,  they  became  his  by  voluntary  covenant,  — "  his 
own,"  in  every  possible  sense,  nominally,  really,  and  for  ever. 

The  distinguishing  traits  of  their  piety  were  strongly  de- 
veloped, and  obvious  to  all. 

1.   Great  love.    On  no  part  of  the  Christian  character  does 
the  New  Testament  so  frequently  and  strenuously  insist,  as  ' 
on  this  —  on  none  does  it  pass  so  many  and  deserved  enco- 


104  EFFICIENCY    OF   PRIMITIVE   MISSIONS. 

miums.    Whatever  else  a  man  might  have,  if  deficient  in  love 
he  was  regarded  as  defective  in  the  primary  and  essential  ele 
ment  of  evangelical  godliness.     They  understood  that  "  love 
is  the  fulfilling  of  the  law." 

The  early  Christians  had  great  love  to  the  Saviour,  They 
remembered  the  thrice-repeated  and  searching  interrogation, 
proposed  under  the  most  impressive  circumstances  on  the 
shore  of  Tiberias,  "  Simon,  son  of  Jonas,  lovest  thou  me  ?  *' 
It  burned  deep  into  their  souls  the  conviction  that  love  to 
him  must  be  the  fundamental  element  of  their  character,  the 
main-spring  of  all  their  action.  Hence  we  find  them  uni- 
formly and  studiously  cultivating  this  affection,  that  so  they 
may  never  be  lacking  in  the  impulsive  power  appropriate  to 
their  calling,  —  that  so  they  may  ever  with  sincerity  appeal 
to  the  Searcher  of  hearts,  "  Lord,  thou  knowest  all  things, 
thou  knowest  that  we  love  thee."  When  Dr.  Doddridge  en- 
tered the  dungeon  of  a  prisoner,  with  a  reprieve  which  he  had 
obtained  for  him,  the  poor  man  fell  down  at  his  feet  and  ex- 
claimed, "I  will  be  yours  !  Wherever  you  go,  I  am  yours! 
Sir,  every  drop  of  my  blood  thanks  you,  for  you  have  had 
mercy  upon  every  drop  of  it ! "  Similar  were  the  feelings 
of  the  first  Christians  towards  their  redeeming  Lord,  —  sim- 
ilar their  protestations  of  gratitude,  attachment,  and  allegiance, 
*'  My  beloved  is  mine,  and  I  am  his."  The  love  of  ChHst,  — 
both  his  love  to  them,  and  their  love  to  him,  —  the  latter 
being  only  a  reduplication  of  the  former,  —  constrained  them 
to  live,  not  unto  themselves,  but  unto  him  who  died  for  them 
and  rose  again.  To  please  him  was  their  primary  object. 
To  please  him  they  cultivated  personal  holiness.  To  please 
him  they  labored  for  the  conversion  of  souls.  To  please  him 
they  urged  their  missionary  inroads  into  remote  regions,  en- 
countered the  most  appalling  dangers,  endured  the  severest 
hardships,  and  faced  death  in  its  fiercest  forms. 

This  love  unquestionably  exists  in  modern  Christians  in  a 
degree,  but  alas  !  in  a  too  diminished  degree.  It  is  not  in  us, 
as  it  was  in  them,  a  burning  passion,  a  fire  giving  impulse  to 
the  whole  machinery  of  our  being.  If  it  were,  it  would  impel 
us  onward  to  similar  sacrifices,  labors,- conflicts,  victories. 

They  had  great  love  to  one  another.  Brotherly  love  is 
seldom  seen  in  our  day  just  as  it  existed  among  the  early 
Christians.  With  them  it  was  a  test  of  discipleship,  an  ele- 
mentary principle,  devoid  of  which,  a  man  could  not  obtain, 
from  saint  or  sinner,  from  angel  or  devil,  even  the  name  of 


EFFICIENCY    OF    PRIMITIVE    MISSIONS.  105 

Christian.  Without  this  they  did  not  pretend  to  consider 
themselves  as  the  children  of  God.  "  We  know,"  said  they, 
<*  that  we  have  passed  from  death  unto  life,  because  we  love 
the  brethren.*'  The  absence  of  brotherly  love  was  one  of  the 
criterions  by  which  antichrist  was  to  be  known.  Its  presence 
was  to  furnish  indisputable  proof  both  of  the  divine  mission  of 
their  Master  and  of  their  attachment  to  his  cause.  Jesus 
prayed  that  his  disciples  might  all  be  one,  to  the  end  that  the 
world  might  believe  that  the  Father  had  sent  him.  And  to 
them  he  declared,  "  By  this  shall  all  men  know  that  ye  are  my 
disciples,  if  ye  have  love  one  to  another."  And  the  world,  as 
they  beheld  the  chain  of  fraternal  affection  running  through 
all  hearts,  uniting  them  firmly  to  each  other,  and  connecting 
the  whole  inseparably  with  the  throne  of  love,  felt  and  con- 
fessed the  force  of  the  demonstration.  Their  brotherly  love, 
— ■  which  was  really  a  divine  instinct,  an  essential  property  of 
their  new  nature,  and  therefore  spontaneous  and  unmodified 
by  external  circumstances,  —  stood  forth  in  strong  contrast 
with  the  selfishness  of  the  world  around  them,  like  the  verdure 
of  paradise  set  in  the  desert,  and  drew  forth  from  their  bit- 
terest enemies  involuntary  expressions  of  wonder.  The  un- 
believing historian  before  cited,  in  his  attempt  to  account  for 
their  astonishing  success  in  propagating  their  religion,  alleges 
as  one  of  the  most  powerful  causes,  their  affectionate  union. 
Then  there  was  but  one  denomination  of  Christians.*  "  One 
Lord,  one  faith,  one  baptism."  Consequently  there  were  no 
clashing  creeds,  no  sectarian  bickerings,  no  rival  interests,  no 
party  plottings  and  counter-plottings,  no  wasteful  expenditure 
of  time,  and  feeling,  and  moral  energy,  in  attempts  to  main- 
tain and  fortify  party  positions.  "  By  one  Spirit "  they  were 
"  all  baptized  into  one  body,"  and  they  regarded  themselves, 
and  were  regarded  by  all  around  them,  as  members  of  one 
harmonious  and  devoted  brotherhood.  Christ  was  the  centre 
of  attraction,  around  which  they  rallied  and  united,  and,  like 
the  radii  of  a  circle,  the  nearer  they  drew  to  the  centre,  the 
nearer  they  were  to  each  other.     Assimilated  by  the  grace  of 


*  It  can  hardly  be  necessary  to  qualify  this  general  statement,  by  the  ad- 
mission that  even  before  the  apostles  were  all  dead,  the  church  was  vexed 
with  false  teachers  and  consequent  heresies.  These  were  very  limited  in 
their  extent,  and  never  affected  the  great  body  of  believers.  On  some 
points  of  unrevealed  doctrine  there  were  diversities  of  opinion  ;  but,  in  the 
language  of  Waddington,  "  their  variations  were  without  schism,  and  their 
differences  without  acrimony." 


106  iSFt'ICIENCY    OF   PRIMITIVE   MISSIONS. 

God,  and  fused  and  welded  by  the  fires  of  persecution,  their 
affinity  and  cohesion  rendered  them  the  admiration  of  the 
world  that  hated  them,  and  gave  them  a  moral  power  which 
the  modern  church  does  not  possess,  and  never  will  possess, 
until  brotherly  love  shall  resume  its  ancient  influence,  and 
become,  as  it  then  was,  a  "  bond  of  perfectness," — until  ''  the 
multitude  of  them  that  believe  "  shall  be  "  of  one  heart  and 
one  way,"  keeping  "  the  unity  of  the  Spirit  in  the  bond  of 
peace."  O  when  will  the  "  whole  family  "  of  Christ  become 
one,  and  with  "  hearts  knit  together  in  love,"  discontinue 
their  petty  controversies  among  themselves,  and,  following 
their  one  Leader,  converge  and  direct  their  whole  energies 
towards  the  one  point,  the  salvation  of  the  human  soul  ?  We 
may  speculate  as  we  please  about  the  incidental  advantages 
of  our  division  into  sects  or  denominations,  comparing  them 
poetically  to  the  prismatic  hues  of  the  rainbow,  and  from  the 
pulpit  and  the  platform  shouting  in  ecstasy,  "  E  plurihus 
unum  /"  But  the  practical  man  will  tell  us  that  if  we  would 
dissolve  the  intractable  substances  of  earth,  we  must  have  the 
colorless  ray  of  virgin  light. 

The  religion  of  the  first  Christians  was  essentially  philan- 
thropic.  They  had  great  love  to  man.  As  the  creature  of 
God,  as  a  fellow-being,  as  a  sinner  lost  and  helpless,  as  the 
one  for  whom  their  Master  died,  as  bound  with  them  to  a 
common  destiny,  they  loved  him  and  sought  his  good.  O 
how  different  was  their  philanthropy  from  that  of  the  atheistic 
philosophers,  with  which,  at  the  close  of  the  last  century,  a 
portion  of  the  eastern  hemisphere  was  deeply  cursed.  They 
talked  of  love,  universal,  disinterested  love.  But  O,  such 
love  !  Who  ever  beheld  its  parallel  ?  Love  to  man,  but  not 
to  men  ;  love  to  everybody  in  general,  but  to  nobody  in  particu- 
lar; love  to  the  mass,  while  they  soaked  the  earth  around  the 
guillotine  with  the  blood  of  individuals !  The  love  of  the 
early  Christians  comprehended  mankind  not  only  as  a  whole, 
but  in  detail;  and  in  order  to  do  good  to  the  whole,  they 
sought  the  improvement  of  the  individuals.  If  fanaticism  be, 
as  defined  by  an  able  writer,  "  Enthusiasm  inflamed  by  ha- 
tred," they,  admitting  them  to  be  enthusiasts,  were  certainly 
not  fanatics.  Militant  and  aggressive  as  were  their  move- 
ments, not  an  enemy,  however  embittered  and  prejudiced, 
could  charge  them  with  malignant  motives.  Their  enthu- 
siasm was  inflamed  by  love,  and  "  Love  worketh  no  ill  to  his 
neighbor."     Tender  and  affectionate,  as  if  they  had  just  come 


EFFICIENCY    OF   PRIMITIVE   MISSIONS.  107 

from  leaning  on  the  bosom  of  incarnate  compassion,  their 
words  melted  like  honey  on  the  hearts  of  the  people,  and  by 
an  invisible,  irresistible  influence,  won  them  over  from  hos- 
tility to  friendship.  O  !  yes,  brethren,  love,  love,  was  one  of 
the  secrets  of  their  power.  Love  of  souls  was  with  them  both 
a  principle  and  a  passion,  and,  under  its  exhaustless  impulse, 
what  did  they  not  endure,  sacrifice,  accomplish ! 

2.  Vigorous  faith.  Nothing  so  debilitates  a  moral  being, 
as  unbelief.  Nothing  so  girds  him  with  strength,  and  renders 
him  energetic  and  efficient,  as  intelligent  confidence. 

The  primitive  Christians  had  strong  faith  in  the  inspired 
account  of  man's  condition  and  destiny.  Confiding  in  reveal- 
ed truth,  they  looked  on  him  as  deeply  depraved,  guilty,  con- 
demned, and,  unless  saved  by  the  gospel,  sure  to  perish  for 
ever.  This  they  believed  in  respect  to  the  heathen  as  well 
as  the  Jews.  Do  we  believe  it  as  they  did  ?  ''  If  one  died 
for  all,"  —  thus  they  reasoned,  —  "  then  were  all  dead."  How 
appalling  the  truth,  —  "  all  dead  ! "  —  all  exposed  to  hell ! 
They  believed  it,  —  they  acted  as  if  they  believed  it.  They 
went  forth  and  labored  "  unto  the  end,"  under  the  full  persua- 
sion that  every  unbeliever  would  be  damned.  With  such 
faith,  how  could  they  be  inactive  ?  And  is  not  our  compara- 
tive inertness  attributable  to  our  unbelief?  "Lord,  increase 
our  faith !  " 

They  had  faith  in  the  adaptedness  of  the  gospel  to  the  ne- 
cessities of  a  depraved  and  perishing  world.  They  believed 
what  they  said,  that  the  gospel  is  "  the  power  of  God  unto 
salvation,  to  every  one  that  believeth,"  —  that  it  could  remove 
from  the  penitent  sinner,  not  only  the  external  condemnation, 
but  the  inward  defilement,  —  not  only  deliver  him  from  the 
curse  of  the  violated  law,  but  bleach  his  polluted  nature  as 
white  as  heaven.  They  had  faith  in  their  own  message,  and 
none  who  heard  them  and  saw  the  correspondence  of  their 
lives  with  the  testimony  of  their  lips,  could  gainsay  their  not 
immodest  declaration,  "  We  believe,  and  therefore  speak." 
Can  we,  with  no  misgiving  of  conscience,  with  no  fear  of  con- 
tradiction, adopt  their  language  ?  Have  we  a  confidence  like 
theirs  in  the  suitableness  and  efficacy  of  the  gospel  ?  Do  we 
believe  that  it  is  the  thing,  and  the  only  thing  that  can  save 
the  heathen  from  eternal  hell  ? 

They  had  faith  in  the  rectitude  and  utility  of  their  enter- 
prise. They  did  not  consider  their  time,  strength,  suffisring, 
blood,  as  expended  in  a  crusade  uncalled  for,  undignified,  mis- 


108  EFFICIENCY    OP    PRIMITIVE   MISSIONS. 

directed.  No,  no.  They  had  heard  from  the  lips  of  their 
Master,  the  remarkable  words,  "  As  the  Father  hath  sent  me^ 
even  so  send  I  you,"  and  they  had  thence  learned  that  their 
mission  was  identical  with  his,  a  continuation  of  the  one  grand 
design,  —  the  salvation  of  "  a  multitude  which  no  man  could 
number."  They  regarded  the  cause  as  his,  devised  by  his 
love,  sustained  by  his  power,  and  sure  to  prevail.  Hence,  in 
the  depths  of  their  dungeons,  with  the  chains  of  a  despot 
about  them,  they  could  exultingly  say,  "  The  word  of  God  is 
not  bound,"  and  could  even  rejoice  in  the  things  which  hap- 
pened unto  them,  because  they  contributed  to  "  the  further- 
ance of  the  gospel."  If  they  were  mortal,  their  enterprise 
was  not.  They  might  be  "  like  the  foam  of  the  billows  which 
the  tempests  easily  scatter ; "  but  their  cause,  "  resembling 
the  eternal  flow  of  ocean,  should  roll  its  fulness  upon  the 
most  distant  shores." 

They  believed  that  the  work  assigned  them,  —  the  preach- 
ing of  the  gospel  to  every  creature,  —  could  be  done.  Con- 
sequently they  were  the  people  to  do  it.  A  doubt  as  to  its 
practicability  would  have  unfitted  them  for  the  service. 
Brethren,  do  modem  Christians,  —  do  we  believe,  that  the 
heathen  world  can  be  converted  to  God?  Do  we  believe 
that  with  proper  effort  the  earth  can  be  "filled  with  the 
knowledge  of  the  Lord,"  and  the  kingdom  of  Christ  be  made 
to  outstretch  its  borders,  until  it  shall  encompass  "  all  na- 
tions ? "  "  If  thou  canst  believe,  all  things  are  possible  to 
him  that  believeth." 

They  had  the  Saviour's  promise  to  be  with  them  and  defend 
them,  and  give  them  success.  His  own  words,  "  All  power 
is  given  unto  me  in  heaven  and  in  earth,"  were  engraven  in 
the  metal  of  their  souls,  and  they  felt  that  he  was  able,  with 
"  all  power,"  to  make  his  promise  good.  How  could  they 
hesitate  or  falter?  "Lo,  I  am  with  you,"  was  enough  to 
brace  up  their  courage,  and  retain  it  firmly  at  the  desirable 
point.  Hence  timidity  was  not  even  an  accident  of  their 
character. 

Such,  and  more  than,  such  was  their  faith,  and  under  its 
invigorating  and  impulsive  influence  they  went  forward,  and 
quit  themselves  like  men.  Christian  men.  Brethren,  is  there 
a  large  amount  of  this  faith  in  the  existing  church  ?  Should 
the  Son  of  Man  come,  how  much  of  it  would  he  find  on  the 
earth  ? 

3.  Rigid  self-denial      When   they   gave   themselves    to 


EFFICIENCY   OF   PRIMITIVE   MISSIONS.  109 

Christ,  they  counted  all  things  loss  for  him  and  his  salvation  ; 
and  the  surrender  was  an  honest,  whole-hearted  transaction, 
never  to  be  reconsidered,  never  to  be  regretted. 

Hence,  from  the  hour  of  their  conversion,  they  made  little 
account  oi property.  If  it  was  confiscated  by  government,  or 
destroyed  by  the  mob,  they  "took  joyfully  the  spoiling  of 
their  goods,"  assured  that  in  heaven  they  had  a  better,  an  in- 
corruptible inheritance.  When  the  cause  required,  how 
ready  were  they  to  lay  all  at  the  feet  of  the  Missionaries ! 
Generally  they  were  poor.  A  rich  Christian !  why,  such  a 
thing  was  hardly  known.  However  it  may  be  now,  it  was 
then,  "  easier  for  a  camel  to  go  through  a  needle's  eye,  than 
for  a  rich  man  to  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God."  And  if, 
as  an  act  of  special  sovereignty,  a  man  of  wealth  was  convert- 
ed, he  seldom  retained  his  riches  for  a  long  period ;  for  such 
was  his  sympathy  for  the  despoiled  and  suffering  brotherhood, 
and  such  his  solicitude  for  the  conversion  of  the  perishing, 
that  his  funds  were  poured  forth  as  water.  Yet  poor  as  were 
the  first  Christians,  they  were  liberal  to  a  degree  seldom  sur- 
passed. We  from  our  much  give  little.  They  from  their 
little  gave  much.  Their  "  deep  poverty  abounded  unto  the 
riches  of  their  liberality."  Baptized  covetousness  was  the 
product  of  a  later  age. 

Reputation  was  with  them  a  matter  of  trivial  consequence. 
We  have  often  so  much  character  to  obtain,  or  to  preserve, 
that  we  can  spare  neither  time  nor  resources  for  the  great 
work  of  promoting  Christ's  glory.  But  the  early  Christians, 
bishops  and  all,  w^hile  they  were  careful  to  maintain  con- 
sciences void  of  offence  towards  God  and  man,  were  not  very 
sensitively  concerned  whether  they  stood  high  or  low  in  the 
world's  estimation.  It  therefore  cost  them  very  little  to  keep 
up  a  good  reputation.  That  they  left  where  they  left  their 
life,  "  hid  with  Christ  in  God." 

They  consulted  not  with  flesh  and  blood,  but  sacrificed  per- 
sonal  ease,  and  submitted  to  hardships  and  trials  of  which  we 
know  comparatively,  most  of  us,  absolutely  nothing.  They 
were  "men  that  hazarded  their  lives  for  the  name  of  the 
Lord  Jesus."  Yes,  for  their  religion  they  were  ready  to  die, 
and  for  it  they  did  die  by  hecatombs,  and  by  dying  for  it  they 
often  accomplished  more  than  by  living  and  laboring  for  it. 
Hence  the  triumphant  remark  of  Tertullian  had  quite  as 
much  truth  as  poetry :  —  "  The  more  you  mow  us  down,  the 
thicker  we  rise;  the  Christian  blood  you  spill  is  like  the 
10 


110  EFFICIENCY    OF   PRIMITIVE   MISSIONS. 

seed  you  sow;  it  springs  from  the  earth  and  fructifies  the 
more." 

4.  Simple  obedience.  They  understood  Christ  to  be  in 
earnest,  when,  standing  but  one  step  from  the  throne  of  the 
universe,  he  said,  "  Go  ye  into  all  the  world,  and  preach  the 
gospel  to  every  creature."  It  was  not  therefore  with  them  a 
matter  to  be  considered  whether  they  should  go  or  not  go. 
The  command  was  positive  and  peremptory,  and  how  could 
they  escape  from  the  obligation?  With  us,  to  stay  is  the 
rule,  to  go  is  the  exception.  With  them,  to  go  js  the  rule,  to 
stay  is  the  exception.*  Wonder  not  that  they  accomplished 
so  much.  Wonder  not  that  we  accomplish  so  little.  They 
did  not  wait  indolently  for  openings,  but  went  forth,  either  to 
find  them  or  to  make  them.  If  defeated  at  one  point,  instead 
of  returning  to  Jerusalem  in  despondency,  and  writing  a  book 
on  the  impracticability  of  Christian  missions,  they  proceeded 
to  another  and  perhaps  more  distant  field,  and  then  to  another, 
and  still  another,  until  they  had  gone  over  the  appointed  ter* 
ritory.  Their  piety  was  enterprising  ;  the  spirit  of  obe- 
dience made  it  such. 

Have  we  this  spirit  of  obedience  to  the  last  command  of 
the  Lord  Jesus  ?  Let  us  not  evade  the  question,  but  answer 
it.  Why  then  is  it  necessary  for  so  much  to  be  said  and  done, 
by  the  pulpit  and  the  press,  by  corresponding  secretaries  and 
travelling  agents,  to  obtain  our  scanty  supply  of  missionaries, 
and  gather  from  a  half  million  of  Baptists,  at  the  rate  of  a 
dime  each,  enough  to  send  these  few  missionaries  to  six  hun- 
dred millions  of  perishing  heathen  ?  O  Jesus  !  is  this  thy 
church  ?  Are  these  the  people  whom  thou  didst  redeem  by 
thy  blood,  and  who  with  the  first  throbbings  of  the  new  heart 
have  severally  inquired,  "  Lord,  what  wilt  thou  have  me  to 
do  ?  "  When  Ko  Chet-thing,  the  Karen  convert,  was  in  this 
country,  he  was  urged  on  a  certain  occasion  to  address  a  con- 
gregation in  respect  to  their  duty  to  send  out  and  support 
more  missionaries.  After  a  moment  of  downcast  thoughtful- 
ness,  he  asked  with  evident  emotion,  "  Has  not  Jesus  Christ 
told  them  to  do  it  ?  "     "  O  yes,"  was  the  reply,  "  but  we  wish 


*  "It  is  not,  as  is  commonly  done,  to  bo  taken  for  granted,  hy  those  who 
come  into  the  ministry,  that  they  are  to  remain  in  their  own  Christian  land, 
unless  a  case  of  duty  can  be  made  out  for  them  to  go  to  some  unevangelized 
people :  but  it  is  to  be  taken  for  granted,  that  they  are  to  be  employed  in 
conveying  the  gospel  to  some  destitute  people,  unless  a  case  of  duty  can  be 
made  out  for  tliem  to  remain  in  their  own  already  Christian  conntry/'-r- 
J>.  Wtsner. 


EFFICIENCY    OF   PKIMITIVE   MISSIONS.  Ill 

you  to  remind  them  of  their  duty."  "  Ok  no !"  said  the  Karen, 
"  if  they  will  not  obey  Jesus  Christ,  they  will  not  obey  me." 
He  in  his  simplicity  considered  the  command  of  the  Master 
as  paramount  and  all-sufficient. 

It  has  been  often  said  that  in  the  hearts  of  our  brethren 
there  are  fountains  of  benevolence.  Ice-bound,  it  is  acknowl- 
edged they  may  be,  and  pent  in  the  rocks  of  ignorance  and 
prejudice ;  yet  if  but  a  Moses  go  to  them,  and  smite  those 
rocks,  the  streams  of  charity,  it  is  said,  will  flow  forth  to 
gladden  all  the  desert.  Indeed !  And  had  the  primitive 
Christians  such  Horeb  hearts,  yielding  nothing  to  the  cause 
of  God,  nothing  to  the  claims  of  a  suffering,  dying  world, 
until  smitten  by  foreign  force  ?  Was  the  missionary  enter- 
prise in  their  day,  a  crouching  mendicant,  wandering  among 
the  churches,  soliciting  with  a  pauper's  importunity  the  shreds 
and  parings  of  liberal  incomes,  and  then  proclaiming  at  every 
comer  the  name  and  residence  of  every  donor  of  a  half  shekel, 
lest,  forsooth,  unless  his  reluctantly  bestowed  contribution 
should  be  loudly  trumpeted,  he  might  cease  to  care  for  the 
will  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  lose  his  interest  in  the  salvation 
of  a  world,  and  the  missionary  treasury  feel  no  more  of  the 
overflowings  of  his  benevolence  ?  Tell  me,  men,  brethren 
and  fathers,  were  such  the  Christians  of  the  age  of  Barnabas, 
and  Philemon,  and  Polycarp  ? 

5.  Fervent  prayer.  It  has  been  remarked  respecting  a 
modern  preacher,  whose  labors  while  living  were  eminently 
blessed  in  the  conversion  of  his  hearers,  and  who,  "  being 
dead,  yet  speaketh,"  that  the  secret  of  his  success  lay  in  his 
devotional  habits.  He  dwelt  on  the  border  of  eternity,  and 
carried  with  him  into  his  pulpit,  and  into  all  his  intercourse 
with  his  people,  the  very  atmosphere  that  circulates  around 
the  throne.  Hence  a  member  of  his  congregation  once  de- 
clared,— "When  our  pastor  prays,  it  is  right  into  the  heart 
of  God.  When  he  preaches,  it  is  right  into  the  heart  of  the 
sinner."  This  description,  true  perhaps  of  a  few  moderns,  is 
truer  still  of  the  great  body  of  the  ancient  preachers.  They 
had  peculiar  access  to  the  hearts  of  men,  because  they  had 
peculiar  access  to  the  ear  and  heart  of  God.  With  him  and 
the  glories  around  him  they  were  familiar,  and  ever  as  they 
came  forth  from  his  presence,  they  brought  to  the  people, 
fresh  from  the  tree  of  life,  the  leaves  that  are  for  the  healing 
of  the  nations,  —  sparkling  from  the  river  of  life,  the  waters 
'*  clear  as  crystal,"  that  purify  the  unholy,  and  refresh  the 
way-worn  and  weary. 


112  EFFICIENCY   OF   PRIMITIVE   MISSIONS. 

Another  pastor,  whose  success  was  proverbially  great,  when 
asked  how  it  happened  that  under  his  ministry  "  the  word  of 
God"  so  "grew  and  multiplied,"  returned  the  significant 
answer,  "  I  have  a  praying  church."  The  early  church  was 
eminently  a  praying  church.  The  sin  of  indevotion  could  not 
be  laid  to  her  charge.  The  oft-repeated  and  unanimous  re- 
quest of  the  apostles,  "  Pray  for  us,"  "  Pray  for  us  that  the 
word  of  the  Lord  may  have  free  course  and  be  glorified,"  was 
never  made  in  vain.  Indeed,  the  request  scarcely  needed  to 
be  made.  The  Christians  of  those  days  waited  not  for  a 
specified  season,  but  at  all  times  and  every  where  they 
remembered  before  God  the  cause  of  missions,  and  the  self- 
denying  missionary  laborers.  In  the  closet,  in  the  family,  in 
the  church,  the  burden  of  their  prayer  was,  "  Thy  kingdom 
come."  Every  prayer-meeting  was  a  concert  of  prayer  for 
the  universal  spread  of  the  gospel  of  Christ.  And  theirs 
were  the  effectual,  fervent  prayers  that  avail  much.  They 
knew  how  to  touch  that  delicate  chain  which  Jesus  had  passed 
over  the  throne,  and  by  which  the  faintest  spark  of  holy  desire 
may  be  easily  transmitted  ;  and  through  it  they  sent  a  contin- 
ual stream  of  invisible  but  powerful  influence  away  into  the 
deepest  recesses  of  heathenism. 

Such,  in  five  of  its  aspects,  was  the  type  of  their  piety. 
Perceive  we  not  good  reasons  why  they  were  so  amazingly 
successful  in  propagating  the  gospel  of  Christ  ?  And  see  we 
not,  by  comparison,  satisfactory  reasons  why  the  gospel  in  our 
hands  is  so  limited  in  its  efiiciency  ? 

Another  fact  which  gave  a  peculiarity  to  the  missions  of 
the  primitive  church,  and  doubtless  conduced  in  a  large  meas- 
ure to  their  success,  deserves  to  be  considered. 

11.     Their  plan  of  action. 

If  indeed  that  can  be  called  plan  which  indicates  no  fore- 
cast, includes  nothing  of  method,  proceeds  from  no  concert, 
and  betrays  the  entire  absence  of  all  worldly  wisdom.  Yet 
in  all  their  operations  there  were  certain  elements  that  ex- 
hibit, if  not  human  sagacity,  the  supervision  of  a  master  mind 
that  understands  human  nature,  and  knows  how  to  adapt  the 
means  to  the  end. 

1.  Unity  of  object  They  considered  that  it  was  their 
calling,  their  very  business  as  Christians,  to  propagate  the 
religion  that  they  loved.  Hence,  every  one  felt  it  incumbent 
on  him,  whether  others  joined  him  or  not,  to  do  whatever  he 
could  for  the  object.     "  I  cannot  speak  for  Christ,"  said  a 


EFFICIENCY    OF    PRIMITIVE   MISSIONS*  113 

martyr  on  his  way  to  the  flames,  "  but  I  can  die  for  him." 
That  was  the  pervading  spirit.  "  If  I  cannot  do  every  thing, 
I  can  do  something.  ^  This  one  thing  I  do ; '  I  labor,  *  accord- 
ing to  the  ability  that  God  giveth,'  for  the  conversion  of  the 
world."  This  was  the  end  they  contemplated  with  unwaver- 
ing eye ;  this  the  point  toward  which  they  pressed  with  unfal- 
tering movement.  To  this  end  they  devoted  their  thinking, 
feeling,  acting,  praying.  For  this  they  earned,  for  this  they 
gave  their  money,  and  ever  found  it,  as  you  may  find  it 
to-night,  "  more  blessed  to  give  than  to  receive."  For  this 
they  toiled,  and  suffered,  and  counted  not  their  lives  dear 
unto  themselves.  O,  they  were  Christians  worthy  of  the 
name !  Like  their  Master,  they  had  one  thing  to  do,  and 
how  were  they  straitened  until  it  was  accomplished  ! 

What  was  the  master  passion  of  the  primitive  church  ? 
What  but  a  burning  desire  for  the  salvation  of  the  guilty  and 
the  perishing  of  their  race  ?  Hence,  having  one  object,  their 
feeling  and  action  were  intense,  and  they  moved  onward  with 
a  momentum  which  the  nature  of  mind  forbade  to  be  more, 
which  the  principles-^  that  actuated  them  forbade  to  be  less. 
We  occasionally  see  an  individual  of  our  own  circle,  cherish- 
ing the  same  high  purpose,  living  as  if  he  had  one,  only  one 
object,  —  the  glory  of  God  in  the  salvation  of  souls.  But  the 
instances  are  rare,  —  rare  as  light-houses  on  the  North- West 
Coast.  Our  sympathies  and  energies  are  distributed  among 
a  variety  of  objects.  Our  eye  is  not  single,  —  our  heart  is 
divided.  Undertaking  too  many  things,  our  resources  are 
dissipated,  and  we  do  nothing  effectively.  Our  life  is  but  a 
span,  and  our  ability  is  finite ;  let  us  endeavor  to  do  one  thing, 
and  do  it  well. 

2.  Simplicity  of  means.  It  is  an  assumption  of  modern 
wisdom,  that  the  gospel  cannot  be  made  effectual  among  the 
heathen,  unless  civilization  precede  and  prepare  the  way. 
"  Send  first  the  schoolmaster  and  the  mechanic,  and  the  agri- 
culturist; afterwards  the  missionary."  This  counsel  we  hear 
not  only  from  the  world,  but  we  regret  to  say  from  too  many 
of  the  church.  But  besides  betraying  a  secret  infidelity 
respecting  the  real  efficacy  of  the  gospel,  it  is  a  virtual  im- 
peachment of  the  wisdom  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  has 
arranged  an  order  of  things  entirely  the  reverse. 

Thus  we  have  been  confidently  assured,  as  if  it  were  a 
settled  axiom,  that  the  gospel  cannot  advance  at  home,  and 
that  we  must  expect  no  more  revivals  of  religion  in  the  south 
10* 


114  EFFICIENCY   OP   PRIMITIVE   MISSIONS. 

or  the  north,  in  the  west  or  the  east,  until  certain  evils  are 
removed,  certain  dominant  vices  suppressed.  Moral  reform, 
it  is  said,  must  precede  the  triumphs  of  the  cross.  And  by 
these  specious  theories,  have  thousands  of  the  people  of  God 
been  unhappily  deluded,  and,  leaving  their  appropriate  work 
of  preaching  the  gospel  and  distributing  the  Bible,  they  have 
seized  the  pickaxe  and  gone  to  beating  down  the  obstacles 
which  they  have  learned  to  think  the  Christian  religion  can 
neither  remove  nor  transcend.  Sadly  for  themselves  and  for 
the  world,  do  they  forget  that  "the  weapons  of  our  warfare  are 
not  carnal,  but  mighty  through  God  to  the  pulling  down  of 
strong  holds ;  casting  down  imaginations  and  every  high  thing 
that  exalteth  itself  against  the  knowledge  of  God,  and  bring- 
ing into  captivity  every  thought  to  the  obedience  of  Christ." 
The  primitive  Christians  acted  on  the  principle  that  the 
gospel  is  the  grand  pioneer,  fitted  above  all  else  to  make 
crooked  things  straight,  and  rough  places  plain.  If  fatigue 
duty  was  to  be  performed,  in  order  to  open  a  way  for  the 
easy  progress  of  the  King  of  Zion,  they  desired  no  better 
instruments  than  the  truths  of  his  own  glorious  gospel.  They 
understood  that  moral  reform  proceeds  best  in  the  train  of 
Christ  and  his  cross,  and  hence,  for  the  regeneration  of  a 
degraded  and  miserable  world,  they  used  no  other  instrumen- 
tality. They,  in  their  simplicity,  regarded  the  gospel  as  the 
divinely  appointed  catholicon, — the  one  efficacious  remedy  of 
all  moral  evils.  They  supposed  that  if  individuals  or  com- 
munities could  be  brought  completely  under  its  influence, 
they  would  renounce  all  sin,  and  cultivate  all  righteousness. 
Brethren,  if  the  gospel  does  not  rectify  what  is  wrong  in  man, 
can  you  inform  us  of  any  system  of  truth  or  of  agencies  that 
will  do  it  ?  You  cannot  predispose  men's  hearts  to  welcome 
the  truth  of  God  by  any  external  means  whatever, — not  even 
by  the  potent  influence  of  grammars  and  lexicons,  globes  and 
orreries,  spelling-books  and  newspapers,  spinning  jennies  and 
steam  engines.  But  the  simple  story  of  the  cross  does  exe- 
cution in  all  places,  —  in  the  German  university  and  the 
Northumberland  colliery,  in  the  Louisiana  cotton-field  and 
the  Lowell  factory,  in  the  Putawatomy  wigwam  and  the 
Karen  jungle.  And  when  sinners  are  once  converted  by  the 
grace  of  God,  then  they  begin  to  estimate  rightly  the  im- 
portance of  their  being ;  then  they  recognize  their  relations 
to  Jehovah  and  to  one  another,  and  the  work  of  improve- 
ment, may  proceed  successfully,  for  it  has  a  basis  and  an 


EFFICIENCY   OF   PRIMITIVE   MISSIONS.  115 

object.  "Seek  first  the  kingdom  of  God,"  and  all  these 
minor  results  shall  be  superadded. 

3.  Judicious  application  of  their  meanS'  You  may  cool 
water  downward,  but  you  must  heat  it  upward.  So  with 
society ;  it  deteriorates  downward  and  improves  upward. 
If  the  upper  classes  become  vicious,  they  descend ;  if  the 
lower  become  virtuous,  they  rise.  This  fact  was  manifestly 
recognized  by  Christ  and  his  apostles,  for  they  directed  their 
attention  chiefly  to  the  lower  strata  of  the  social  mass.  Had 
they  commenced  with  the  upper,  they  would  doubtless  have 
succeeded  with  a  single  stratum,  but  all  beneath  would  have 
remained  untouched  by  gracious  influences.  But  by  begin- 
ning with  the  lower,  they  acted  wisely,  as  he  acts  wisely  who 
kindles  the  fire  beneath  a  fluid  instead  of  above  it.  They 
wrought  upward,  and  the  results  amazed  even  themselves. 
We  reverse  the  order,  and  work  downward,  and  then  wonder 
that  the  effects  are  so  limited.  Let  us  conform  to  the  simple 
order  of  nature,  as  well  as  to  primitive  example,  and  both  at 
home  and  abroad,  preach  the  gospel  to  the  poor,  and 
we  shall  soon  rejoice  in  enlarged  success. 

They  did  not,  like  us,  expend  a  large  proportion  of  their 
resources  upon  mere  machinery.  They  used  but  little  of  it, 
and  the  plan  they  adopted  required  but  little.  In  rearing  the 
temple  of  the  Lord,  we  expend  largely  upon  the  scaffolding, 
what  they  devoted  to  the  edifice.  We  pay  great  attention  to 
modes  of  usefulness ;  they,  willing  to  do  good  in  the  way 
prescribed  by  their  Master,  were  intent  solely  upon  the 
usefulness.  We  engage  freely  in  matters  remotely  connected 
with  our  great,  our  appointed  business ;  they  "  let  the  dead 
bury  their  dead,"  and  went  every  where  preaching  that  men 
should  repent  and  turn  to  God.  We  devote  weeks  and 
months  to  the  glorious  privilege  of  "  free  discussion ; "  they 
allowed  the  potsherds  to  strive,  and  improved  their  time  in 
preaching  the  gospel  to  the  destitute.  How  long  is  it  since 
an  ecclesiastical  body  in  a  single  session,  squandered  seventeen 
years  of  ministerial  time  in  the  discussion  of  points  very 
slightly  associated  with  the  work  assigned  them  by  the  Head 
of  the  church  ?  As  the  result  of  the  whole,  has  there  been, 
or  is  there  likely  to  be  a  single  soul  converted?  Alas! 
results  of  a  very  different  character  may  be  apprehended, 
results  over  which  demons  will  exult,  and  seraphim  weep. 

During  the  next  three  weeks  this  great  city  will  be 
thronged  with  the  servants  of  Christ,  come  up  from  the  face 


; 


116  EFFICIENCY    OF   PRIMITIVE    MISSIONS* 

of  the  whole  land,  like  the  heads  of  the  tribes  to  Zion.  Are 
they  coming  here  to  preach  the  "  everlasting  gospel  ?  "  To 
do  good  to  souls  ?  Will  they  bum  with  irrepressible  desire 
for  the  conversion  of  the  guilty  thousands  and  hundreds  of 
thousands  who  crowd  the  broad  way  to  hell  ?  We  come  here 
to  consult  about  sending  the  gospel  to  the  distant  heathen, 
while  around  us,  within  a  circle  of  two  miles  radius,  are  a 
quarter  of  a  million  human  beings  as  much  without  hope  as 
any  pagans  on  earth,  and  for  whom  it  shall  be  less  tolerable 
in  the  judgment  than  for  Sodom  and  Gomorrah !  How  long 
ought  we  to  sit  here  debating  a  point  of  order,  discussing  an 
amendment  to  a  resolution,  adjusting  the  phraseology  of  a 
report,  and  passing  votes  of  thanks  to  each  other  for  services 
which  Christ  views  as  culpably  imperfect  ?  Oh  brethren !  if 
Paul  and  James  were  here,  what  would  they  do  ? 

4.  Personal  effort.  The  primitive  Christian  regarded  him- 
self as  a  centre  from  which  the  voice  of  truth  was  to  go  forth 
over  the  whole  circle  of  his  influence.  Every  individual 
added  to  the  church  considered  himself  as  an  agent  for  propa- 
gating the  news  of  salvation  to  his  neighbors,  who  were  in 
turn  to  communicate  it  to  others,  and  they  to  others  beyond 
them,  and  thus  onward,  till  a  chain  of  living  voices  should 
have  been  carried  around  the  globe,  and  earth  from  the 
equator  to  the  poles  made  vocal  with  the  cry  of  those  whose 
feet  are  beautiful  upon  the  mountains,  who  bring  glad  tidings, 
and  publish  peace.  Cherishing  a  conviction  of  individual  re- 
sponsibility, they  were  not  content  to  do  good  merely  by 
proxy.  Their  piety,  in  all  its  aspects,  was  essentially  mis- 
sionary, and  each  member  felt  himself  to  be  consecrated,  by 
his  very  profession,  to  the  great  work  of  evangelizing  the  world. 
When,  therefore,  a  man  was  converted,  he  was  immediately 
found  moving  among  the  impenitent,  persuading  them  to  flee 
from  the  wrath  to  come.  And  this  he  did,  not  more  from  a 
desire  for  the  salvation  of  souls,  than  from  love  to  the  Saviour, 
and  a  conviction  that  it  was  his  appropriate  business,  —  an 
essential  part  of  his  "  high  calling."  In  the  aggressive  move- 
ments of  the  "sacramental  host,"  he  considered  himself  as 
drawn  to  serve,  and  he  neither  sought  nor  desired  exemption. 
In  the  great  cause  at  issue  between  God  and  man,  he  felt  that 
he  was  subpoenaed  as  a  witness  for  his  Sovereign,  and  when 
his  testimony  was  wanted,  he  was  never  among  the  missing. 

The  churches  were  then  so  many  missionary  societies. 
Each  congregation  of  Christians,  duly  organized  according  to 


EFFICIENCr   OF   PRIMITIVE   MISSIONS.  117 

the  laws  of  Christ,  became  first  a  focus  into  which  the  sancti- 
fied excellence  of  earth  might  be  collected,  and  then  a  centre 
from  which  the  light  of  truth  and  holiness  might  radiate  in  all 
directions.  Hence  the  seven  churches  of  Asia  were  rep- 
resented as  "seven  golden  candlesticks."  Every  church, 
"  holding  forth  the  word  of  life,"  was  the  pharos  of  a  benight- 
ed world,  flinging  a  hallowed  radiance  far  over  the  stormy 
sea  of  human  existence. 

Missionary  was  than  the  highest  style  of  ministerial  char- 
acter. The  principal  men,  the  most  capable  and  influential, 
—  the  "  sons  of  consolation,"  and  the  "  sons  of  thunder,"  —  not 
satisfied  with  remaining  at  home,  and  sending  men  of  inferior 
powers  and  endowments,  went  themselves  to  the  work,  and 
with  their  own  lips  related  the  story  of  Calvary,  and  bared 
their  own  heads  to  the  tempests  of  persecution. 

It  may  well  be  questioned  whether  the  committee  of  the 
English  Baptist  Mission  did  not  perpetrate  a  grievous  mistake 
when  they  refused  to  send  to  India  that  eminent  man  of  God, 
the  seraphic  Pearce ;  and  whether  the  London  Society  did 
not  err  exceedingly  when  they  declined  the  ofler  of  Dr.  Reed 
to  proceed  to  China,  and  occupy  the  breach  where  a  giant  had 
fallen.  Both  societies  have  unhappily  confirmed  the  popular 
impression,  that  men  of  ordinary  ability  will  do  for  missiona- 
ries, —  that  ministers  who  are  capable  of  great  usefulness  at 
home,  cannot  be  spared  for  the  heathen. 

Let  us  not  wonder  that  modern  missions,  when  compared 
with  the  ancient,  are  so  limited  in  their  efficiency.  We  proba- 
bly expend  more  money  in  the  enterprise  than  they  did  ;  but 
our  piety  is  not  like  theirs,  missionary  piety ;  our  zeal  is  not 
like  theirs,  missionary  zeal ;  our  activity  is  not  like  theirs, 
missionary  activity.  We  probably  talk  and  write  as  much 
about  converting  the  world  as  they  did ;  but  we  act  less,  we 
give  less  of  personal  labor.  To  the  many  designations  given 
to  the  present  age,  we  may  properly  add  "  the  age  of  resolu- 
tions." Under  the  head  of  "  Resolved,"  we  all  announce 
what  we  believe  and  what  we  deny,  what  we  desire  and  what 
we  deprecate,  what  we  have  done  and  what  we  intend  to  do. 
But  the  most  of  these  resolutions,  contemplating  action,  are 
never  executed,  simply  because  no  one  of  the  conclave  that 
passed  them  feels  personally  responsible  for  their  execution. 
Individuality  is  merged  in  the  mass,  and  obligation  that 
presses  upon  the  whole,  is  unfelt  by  the  separate  confederates. 
I  and  We,  are  different  words,  and  it  is  too  often  forgotten 


118  EFFICIENCY    OF   PRIMITIVE   MISSIONS. 

that  the  former  is  included  in  the  latter.  If  some  brother, 
three  years  ago  had  said,  "  I  resolve,  by  the  blessing  of  God, 
this  year  to  raise  one  hundred  thousand  dollars  for  foreign 
missions,"  very  likely  it  would  have  been  accomplished.  A 
hundred  or  more  of  us  said  unanimously,  "  We  will  do  it," 
and  not  an  additional  thousand  did  the  resolution  bring  into 
your  treasury. 

Not  thus  did  the  primitive  Christians  manage  their  matters. 
If  anything  was  to  be  done,  instead  of  calling  meetings,  mak- 
ing speeches,  passing  resolutions,  and  then  leaving  the  work 
undone,  they  went  directly  themselves  and  did  it.  How 
rightly  is  one  book  of  the  New  Testament  named,  not  the 
Resolutions,  but  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles.  Non  dicta,  sed 
acta  Apostolorum, 

Oh  how  changed  would  be  the  aspect  of  the  church,  if  her 
ministers  and  members  would  come  up  to  the  same  standard 
of  feeling,  and  principle,  and  action,  recognizing  in  equal  de- 
gree the  claims  of  a  world  lying  in  wickedness,  and  their  obli- 
gations to  the  world's  Redeemer !  Just  suppose  that  the 
Church  of  England  should  lay  aside  her  secular  character, 
and  become  strictly  a  religious  body,  a  missionary  church, 
spiritual,  self-denying,  enterprising,  —  how  luminous  would  be 
her  glory,  now  so  tarnished,  —  how  mighty  through  God  her 
moral  power,  now  so  paralyzed  !  Consecrating  all  her  wealth, 
talent  and  intelligence  to  the  cause  of  Christ,  what  triumphs 
might  she  not  achieve  ?  Let  her  archbishop  and  all  her  titled 
prelates,  laying  aside  the  paraphernalia  of  outward  distinc- 
tion, —  the  pitiful  remnants  -of  Romish  folly,  —  and  vacating 
their  seats  in  the  halls  of  legislation,  become  missionaries  of 
the  cross,  such  as  Paul  and  Peter,  ApoUos  and  Timothy,  go- 
ing forth  in  the  spirit  of  apostles,  not  to  advance  a  sect,  or  to 
distribute  the  prayer-book,  but  to  convert  the  pagan  world  to 
Christ  Jesus,  then  would  she  become  what  she  is  not  now,  and 
what  nothing  but  humiliation  and  sacrifice  will  make  her,  — 
"  the  perfection  of  beauty,  the  joy  of  the  whole  earth." 

What  but  their  Christian  simplicity  and  missionary  zeal, 
have  made  our  Moravian  brethren  the  agents  of  so  much 
good,  —  the  theme  of  such  universal  commendation  ?  They 
commenced  the  work  of  missions  to  the  heathen  when  their 
whole  number  did  not  exceed  six  hundred.  They  now  reckon 
but  a  few  thousands,  with  a  very  limited  amount  of  wealth. 
But  they  are  pre-eminently  a  missionary  church,  and  are  at 
this  time  supporting  more  stations,  and  more  laborers  among 


EFFICIENCY    OF   PRIMITIVE   MISSIONS.  119 

the  unevangelized  in  both  hemispheres,  than  the  whole  Bap- 
tist denomination  in  the  United  States,  though  we  exceed 
them  more  than  two  hundred  fold  in  numerical  strength,  and 
more  than  a  thousand  fold  in  pecuniary  ability. 

Brethren,  we  are  culpably  deficient  in  duty.  We  are  not 
doing  good,  either  at  home  or  abroad,  in  proportion  to  our  re- 
sources. We  act  not  in  accordance  with  our  knowledge  of 
the  wants  of  an  apostate  world,  and  the  will  of  our  sovereign 
Lord.  However  it  may  be  in  other  departments  of  moral  ac- 
tion, it  is  certain  that  here,  where  the  most  fervid  enthusiasm 
is  but  cool  sobriety,  and  where  it  is  hardly  possible  to  be  ex- 
travagant ;  here,  in  the  holy  cause  of  missions  to  the  heathen ; 
here,  if  nowhere  else,  we  actually  sacrifice  zeal  to  prudence, 
or  to  something  which  we  denominate  prudence,  but  which 
the  apostles  would  have  called  timidity,  or  unbelief,  or  per- 
haps covetousness.  Anxious,  on  the  one  hand,  to  avoid  a  blind, 
headlong  impetuosity,  we  have,  on  the  other,  diverged  too  far 
into  a  cold,  calculating  policy.  Acting  with  cautious  reference 
to  the  state  of  the  treasury,  we  lose  sight  of  the  promises  that 
encourage  adventure,  and  choose  rather  to  walk  by  sight  than 
by  faith.  Reluctant  to  trust  the  great  Promiser  for  a  long 
time,  or  to  a  large  amount,  we  treat  him  too  much  in  a  com- 
mercial spirit,  and  under  the  pretext  of  doing  a  safe  business, 
we  do  comparatively  nothing.  When  he  sent  forth  his  first 
missionaries,  did  he  charge  them  to  wait  till  funds  were  accu- 
mulated ?  Did  he  not  rather  bid  them  go  at  once,  and  assure 
them  of  his  own  gracious  presence  until  the  end  of  their 
course?  Did  they  ever  deal  with  him  as  if  they  suspected 
either  his  ability  or  his  faithfulness  ? 

Brethren  in  Christ,  we  have  scarcely  begun  to  feel,  as  all 
the  churches  must  feel,  before  the  world  will  believe  us  in 
earnest,  and  before  we  can  rationally  pray  for  the  divine  bless- 
ing upon  our  endeavors.  We  need  more  of  the  spirit  of 
evangelical  enterprise ;  the  quenchless  spirit  of  love  that 
glowed  in  the  bosoms  of  Paul  and  the  primitive  disciples ; 
of  Luther  and  his  associate  reformers ;  of  Brainerd,  and 
Schwartz,  and  Carey ;  and  more  than  all,  in  the  bosom  of 
Him  who  "  came  not  to  be  ministered  unto,  but  to  minister, 
and  to  give  his  life  a  ransom  for  many."  The  energy  we 
want  is  that  which  springs  from  sympathy  with  the  grandeur 
of  our  object,  and  an  assured  confidence  that  we  have  the 
cooperation  of  the  mightiest  agencies  in  the  universe.  We 
need  a  zeal  that  shall  be  kindled  by  an  unclouded  view  of  the 


120  EFFICIENCY   OF   PRIMITIVE   MISSIONS. 

condition  and  prospects  of  a  guilty  world ;  a  zeal  that  shall 
burn  as  if  fed  by  visions  of  the  cross  —  of  Heaven  —  of  Hell ; 
a  zeal  sustained  by  so  much  principle  as  that  it  can  afford  to 
be  reproached  as  extravagant,  and  to  wait  until  we  are  laid 
in  the  grave  to  be  appreciated ;  a  zeal  that  no  discouragement 
can  repress,  no  opposition  smother ;  a  zeal  like  that  of  the 
incarnate  Son  of  God,  which  urged  him  on  to  his  baptism  in 
suffering ;  a  zeal  that  shall  admit  of  no  repose,  and  intermit 
no  exertion,  until  the  gospel  shall  have  been  fully  preached 
to  the  last  of  the  species,  and  the  Redeemer,  surrendering  his 
mediatorial  commission,  shall  proclaim  to  the  universe  that  he 

is  SATISFIED. 


RESOURCES  OF  THE  ADVERSARY  AND  MEANS 
OF  THEIR  DESTRUCTION. 

BY 

REV.    LYMAN    BEECHER,    D.   D. 

Thus  saith  the  Lord,  Even  the  captives  of  the  mighty  shall  be  taken  away,  and  the 
prey  of  the  terrible  shaU  be  delivered.  —  Isaiah  49  :  25. 

Therefore  will  I  divide  him  a  portion  with  the  great,  and  he  shaU  divide  the  epoil 
with  the  strong  ;  because  he  hath  poured  out  his  soul  unto  death.  —  Isaiah  53  :  12. 

When  a  strong  man  armed  keepeth  his  palace,  his  goods  are  in  peace :  but  when  a 
stronger  than  he  shall  come  upon  him,  and  overcome  him,  he  taketh  from  him  all 
his  armor  wherein  he  trusted,  and  divideth  his  spoils.  —  Luke  11 :  21,  22. 

And  the  seventh  angel  sounded  ;  and  there  were  great  voices  in  heaven,  saying.  The 
kingdoms  of  this  world  are  become  the  kingdoms  of  our  Lord,  and  of  his  Christ ;  and 
he  shall  reign  for  ever  and  ever.  — Rev.  11 :  15. 

And  a  voice  came  out  of  the  throne,  saying,  Praise  our  God,  aU  ye  his  servants,  and  ye 
that  fear  him,  both  smaU  and  great.  And  I  heard  as  it  were  the  voice  of  a  great 
multitude,  and  as  the  voice  of  many  waters,  and  as  the  voice  of  mighty  thunderinga, 
saying,  Alleluia  :  for  the  Lord  God  omnipotent  reigneth.  —  Rev.  19  :  5,  6. 

The  Scriptures  teach,  that  sin  commenced  its  reign  on 
earth  under  the  auspices  of  a  mighty  fallen  spirit ;  and  that 
he,  having  seduced  mankind  from  their  allegiance  to  God, 
has  been  constantly  employed  to  maintain  his  bad  eminence 
over  them.  They  also  teach,  that  the  Son  of  God  has  inter- 
posed to  destroy  the  works  of  this  spirit ;  and  that  he  will 
accomplish  the  object ;  that  the  power  of  Satan  shall  be 
broken  ;  and  the  whole  world  be  restored  to  loyalty  and  the 
favor  of  Heaven. 

The  passages  which  have  just  been  recited,  allude  to  the 
success  with  which  the  enemy  of  God  has  fortified  his  cause 
•—  to  its  final  overthrow  —  and  to  the  exultation  and  joy  with 
which  the  event  will  fill  earth  and  heaven. 

I  am  aware,  that  with  some,  the  doctrine  of  fallen  angels  is 
but  an  eastern  allegory  ;  and  the  idea  of  a  conflict,  between 
the  creature  and  Creator,  ridiculous  and  unworthy  of  the  Di- 
11 


122  RESOURCJES    OF   THE   ADVERSARY, 

vine  Supremacy.  I  can  only  say,  that  if  there  be  not  an  order 
of  sinful  intelligences  above  men,  the  Bible  is  one  of  the  most 
deceptive  books  ever  written.  The  entire  history  of  the  world 
shows,  that  human  depravity,  though  operating  in  accordance 
with  the  laws  of  mind,  is  yet  methodized  and  wielded  with  a 
comprehension  of  plan,  wholly  inexplicable  upon  the  principle 
of  accidental  coincidence  among  men.  That  there  should 
have  been  a  system  of  well-constructed  opposition  to  the 
Gospel,  varying  with  circumstances,  and  comprehending  the 
great  amount  of  bad  moral  influence  which  has  existed,  with- 
out some  presiding  intellect,  is  as  improbable,  as  that  all  the 
particles  of  matter  which  compose  the  universe,  should  have 
fallen  into  their  existing  method  and  order  by  mere  accident, 
and  without  the  presiding  intellect  of  the  Deity.  And  as  to 
moral  competition  between  the  creature  and  the  Creator,  it 
exists,  even  if  there  be  no  fallen  angels.  It  is  a  matter  of  fact 
before  our  eyes  —  a  matter  of  experience  too  —  that  the  car- 
nal mind  is  enmity  against  God ;  and  that  God,  in  Christ,  is 
reconciling  the  world  to  himself. 

It  should  be  remembered  also,  that  when  God  has  formed 
moral  beings,  even  He  can  govern  them,  as  such,  only  by 
moral  influence,  and  in  accordance  with  the  laws  of  mind : 
mere  omnipotence  being  as  irrelevant  to  the  government  of 
mind,  as  moral  influence  would  be  to  the  government  of  the 
material  universe.  Nor  must  it  be  forgotten,  that  an  alien- 
ated world  requires  more  moral  power  for  its  restoration  than 
that  of  simple  law,-  which  proved  insuflicient  to  maintain  its 
allegiance.  It  requires  a  new  moral  influence  so  introduced 
and  applied,  as  to  corroborate  law,  and  strengthen  the  loyalty 
of  all  the  good,  while  rebels  are  reconciled  and  pardoned. 

The  reconciliation,  through  Christ,  of  such  a  world  as  this, 
in  opposition  to  the  rooted  aversion  of  every  heart,  the  con- 
centrated power  of  social  wickedness,  and  the  ceaseless  coun- 
teraction of  mighty  intelligences,  principalities,  and  powers, 
does  not  seem  to  us  an  achievement  unworthy  of  that  Being 
who  numbers  the  hairs  of  our  head.  By  prophets  and  . 
apostles,  it  is  represented  as  exhibiting  the  height  and  depth 
and  length  and  breadth,  of  the  wisdom,  and  goodness,  and 
power  of  God. 

In  this  discourse,  it  is  proposed  to  consider, 

The  defences  and  resources  of  the  enemy,  and 
the  means  of  their  overthrow. 

We  shall  suppose,  as  the  language  of  the  text  does,  that 


AND    MEANS    OF    THEIR   DESTRUCTION.  123 

the  Christianity,  which  is  to  prevail  on  earth,  is  the  Chris- 
tianity of  the  heart,  rising  to  high  eminence,  and  extending 
its  blessed  influence  through  all  the  relations  of  society,  until 
the  kingdoms  of  this  world  shall  become  associations  of  holi- 
ness —  the  Gospel  become  the  predominant  spring  of  action, 
and  its  morality  the  governing  rule  of  all  mankind.  The 
array  of  opposition  to  such  a  glorious  change  on  earth,  now 
demands  our  attention. 

1.  At  the  head  of  opposition  to  the  Gospel,  in  numerical 
power,  must  be  placed  Idolatry,  To  banish  from  the  earth 
all  knowledge  of  God  and  his  government,  and  substitute  a 
worship  composed  of  lust  and  blood,  seems  most  desirable  to 
the  great  adversary,  where  circumstances  allow  it  to  be  done : 
and  this  he  has  achieved  in  respect  to  about  six  hundred  mil- 
lions of  the  human  family.  In  all  that  world  of  mind,  know- 
ledge is  in  deep  eclipse,  intellect  slumbers,  conscience  is 
paralyzed,  and  all  holy  intercourse  between  earth  and  heaven 
is  cut  off;  while  passion  and  appetite,  inflamed  by  sin,  are 
suffered  to  prey  uncontrolled. 

2.  The  next  form  of  opposition  to  the  march  of  holiness, 
is  that  of  Imposture,  This  was  introduced  by  Mohammed. 
It  was  a  system  accommodated  to  the  condition  of  a  mingled 
population,  composed  of  Pagans,  Jews,  and  nominal  Chris- 
tians, all  in  a  state  of  great  ignorance  and  deep  moral  de- 
basement. By  complimenting  Abraham  and  Moses,  he  be- 
guiled the  Jew ;  by  conceding  to  the  Saviour  the  rank  of  a 
prophet,  he  seduced  the  degenerate  Christian  ;  and  by  giving 
ample  license  to  sensuality,  in  time  and  eternity,  he  secured 
the  pagan :  and  what  persuasion  failed  to  accomplish,  was 
finished  by  the  sword.  Thus  one  hundred  and  forty  millions 
have  been  grouped  together  under  the  most  ferocious  and 
horrid  despotism  that  ever  warred  against  heaven,  or  torment- 
ed man.  Over  all  these  the  smoke  from  the  bottomless  pit 
has  ascended,  intercepting  the  light  of  heaven,  and  dooming 
them  for  centuries  to  "  darkness  visible." 

3.  Cotemporaneously  with  this  system  of  imposture,  and 
like  it  a  subject  of  prophecy,  arose  the  Papal  superstition^  in 
the  form  of  a  corrupted  Christianity,  and  adapted  to  a  state  of 
intellectual  improvement  where  the  grossness  of  Mohamme- 
dan imposture  might  not  be  likely  to  prevail.  This  has  been, 
and  is  still,  the  master-piece  of  that  wisdom  which  is  from 
beneath ;  concentrating  the  bad  influence  of  all  past  systems ; 
satisfactory  to  the  pagan,  and  not  alarming  to  the  degenerate 


124         RESOURCES  OF  THE  ADVERSARY, 

Christian  ;  dazzling  through  the  medium  of  sense ;  and  giving 
such  a  license  to  sin,  or  such  a  cheap  escape  from  its  penal- 
ties, as  allayed  all  fear,  and  stimulated  to  boundless  in- 
dulgence. 

IJntil  this  horrid  system  arose,  the  resistance  made  to  the 
church  of  God  had  been  planted  without  her  walls.  Now 
the  sacred  citadel  is  assailed  and  entered.  Her  friends  are 
driven  out,  subjected  to  obloquy  and  death.  The  perverted 
authority  of  Heaven,  and  the  sacred  name  of  Christianity  her- 
self, and  all  the  glorious  and  fearful  sanctions  of  eternity  are 
arrayed  against  the  pure  Gospel.  Instead  of  the  fold  of 
Christ,  the  church  became  a  ferocious  beast,  not  sparing  the 
flock  :  instead  of  a  pure  virgin, — the  mother  of  harlots,  corrupt- 
ing the  nations.  Instead  of  reflecting  the  light  of  the  Sun  of 
righteousness,  every  orb  was  eclipsed ;  every  candlestick  re- 
moved out  of  its  place ;  while  the  night  of  ages  settled  down 
upon  the  earth.  In  this  tremendous  period,  knowledge  and 
virtue  expired,  and  corruption  and  violence,  as  before  the 
flood,  filled  the  earth.  The  great  merchandise  was  in  the 
souls  of  men ;  the  chief  staples,  indulgences  to  sin  ;  and 
nothing  but  holiness  of  heart  and  life  was  absolutely  unpar- 
donable. 

Here,  around  the  standard  of  Christ,  the  kings  of  the  earth 
took  counsel  against  the  Lord  and  his  anointed,  to  break  his 
bands  and  cast  away  his  cords.  And  here  the  atheist  and 
the  Jew,  the  infidel  and  the  libertine,  could  wear  the  sacred 
vestments,  and  make  war  upon  the  Saviour  and  his  friends. 

Popery  is  a  system,  where  science  and  ignorance,  refine- 
ment and  barbarism,  wisdom  and  stupidity,  taste  and  animal- 
ism, mistaken  zeal  and  malignant  enmity,  may  sanctimoni- 
ously pour  out  their  virulence  against  the  Gospel,  and  cry, 
Hosanna,  while  they  go  forth  to  shed  the  blood,  and  to  wear 
out  the  patience  of  the  saints.  And  though  by  revolutions  it 
has  been  shaken,  and  compelled  by  motives  of  policy  to  cease 
a  little  from  blood,  not  a  principle  of  this  system  has  been 
abandoned.  All  the  wiles  of  ages  past  are  put  in  requisition 
now,  to  heal  the  fatal  wounds  which  the  beast  has  received, 
and  to  render  the  system  still  more  powerful  and  terrific. 
The  leaven  is  in  secret  and  in  open  operation  in  this  country ; 
and  the  quick  action  of  the  beast  to  the  touch  of  the  spear  in 
Palestine,  shows  that  he  is  neither  dead  nor  asleep.  And 
considering  the  civilization,  and  wealth,  and  science,  which 
the  system  comprehends,  it  is  from  popery,  no  doubt,  that 


AND    MEANS    OF   THEIR   DESTRUCTION.  125 

the  Gospel  is  destined  to  experience  the  last  and  most  deter- 
mined resistance. 

4.  Another  form  of  resistance  to  the  Gospel  is  to  be  antici- 
pated from  the  despotic  governments  of  the  earth  —  so  incon- 
sistent in  their  influence  with  that  illumination  of  mind  and 
melioration  of  heart,  which,  it  is  predicted,  shall  prevail,  and 
which  the  blessed  Gospel  never  fails  to  produce.  Hence  it 
may  be  expected,  that  despots  will  take  counsel  against  the 
Lord,  as  the  march  of  intellect,  and  piety,  and  civil  liberty, 
shall  minister  alarm. 

To  what  extent  forcible  resistance  will  be  made  to  the 
Gospel,  it  is  not  our  object  now  to  inquire ;  or  whether  re- 
publican forms  of  government  will  supplant  the  ancient  dynas- 
ties. It  is  enough  to  know,  that  all  the  governments  who 
yield  to  the  intimations  of  that  providence  which  sends  out 
religion  and  civil  liberty  upon  the  earth,  will  be  safe  and 
happy  ;  and  that  all  who  make  resistance  will  be  agitated  by 
revolutions,  and  destroyed  by  heavy  judgments.  "  Be  wise 
now,  therefore,  O  ye  kings  ;  be  instructed,  ye  judges  of  the 
earth :  serve  the  Lord  with  fear,  and  rejoice  with  trembling  ; 
kiss  the  Son,  lest  he  be  angry,  and  ye  perish  from  the  way, 
when  his  wrath  is  kindled  but  a  little." 

5.  Another  source  of  resistance  to  Christianity  is  that  of 
crime  in  its  varied  forms,  A  vast  amount  of  capital  is  em- 
barked in  enterprises  which  directly  or  indirectly  war  against 
morality.  All  this,  when  the  spirit  of  Christianity  shall  pre- 
vail, will  be  contraband,  and  withdrawn.  The  power  of 
steam  shall  not  needlessly  violate  holy  time,  nor  the  sail,  with- 
out cause,  whiten  in  the  Sabbath  sun,  and  spread  itself  to 
pervert  the  breath  of  heaven.  Theatres,  those  "schools  of 
morality,"  falsely  so  called,  shall  cease  to  beguile  unstable 
souls,  whose  feet  go  down  to  death,  whose  steps  take  hold  on 
hell.  Christianity,  as  she  prevails,  will  form  a  public  senti- 
ment that  will  make  virtue  blush  at  the  thought  of  meeting 
within  the  same  walls,  and  breathing  the  same  polluted  air, 
and  applauding  the  same  exhibitions,  with  the  most  debased 
and  wretched  portion  of  the  community.  All  who  thrive  and 
grow  rich  amid  the  desolations  of  inebriation,  and  all  who 
desire  to  do  wickedly  without  loss  of  character,  or  annoyance 
of  conscience,  will  feel  instinctively  the  approach  of  religion : 
and  as  their  craft  shall  be  in  danger,  will  raise  a  loud  and 
bitter  cry  —  "  Great  is  Diana.     Great  is  Diana." 

Nor  are  the  maxims  of  more  reputable  trade  in  such  nice 
11* 


126  RESOURCES    OF   THE   ADVERSARY, 

accordance  with  the  "  golden  rule,"  as  to  need  no  revision, 
or  to  present  no  resistance  to  the  Gospel,  as  she  moves  on  to 
make  it  the  universal  actual  law  of  commercial  intercourse ; 
while  the  entire  world  of  honor  must  be  expected  to  stand 
against  that  Gospel,  which  forbids  murder,  and  inculcates  for- 
giveness, and  arrays  public  sentiment  against  the  guilty. 

If  the  Gospel  would  prohibit  only  acknowledged  immorali- 
ties, and  wink  at  human  weaknesses,  the  whole  pleasure- 
loving  world  would  consent  to  an  armistice,  and  permit  her 
to  move  on  wdthout  much  complaint.  But  the  inexorable 
requisitions  of  purity  of  heart  and  self-denial  cannot  fail  to 
bring  out  against  her  a  multitudinous  and  determined  resist- 
ance. The  haters  of  her  uncharitableness,  and  the  lovers 
of  a  more  liberal  way,  and  all  classes  of  the  openly  wicked, 
will,  it  may  be  expected,  as  the  light  increases  and  enmity 
rises,  be  condensed  into  a  firmer  and  firmer  phalanx  of  oppo- 
sition. And  now  will  the  alarm  be  sounded  about  popery 
and  priest-craft,  by  just  that  class  of  men,  who,  in  papal 
countries,  love  darkness,  and  most  cheerfully  purchase  indul- 
gences to  sin  ;  and  who,  in  this  country,  should  the  darkness 
of  popery  be  permitted  to  come  upon  us,  would  be  the  first 
to  hail  it  as  a  covert  for  their  crimes  and  a  quietus  for  their 
consciences.  And  yet  panic-struck  will  many  become  about 
liberty  of  conscience,  who  long  since  have  ceased  to  have 
any  conscience ;  and  suddenly  will  many  fall  in  love  with 
civil  liberty,  who,  all  their  days,  and  with  all  their  might, 
have,  by  their  pernicious  influence,  been  employed  in  attempts 
to  undermine  her  deep  foundations. 

6.  To  cover  the  nakedness  of  this  forlorn  hope  of  opposi- 
tion to  the  Gospel,  a  more  liberal  sort  of  religion  must  be  in- 
troduced, which  shall  keep  men  in  countenance,  and  enable 
them  to  wield  the  name  and  institutions  of  Christianity  against 
Christianity  —  including  so  much  truth  as  may  serve  to  be- 
guile, but  so  little  as  cannot  avail  to  save —  sustained  by  such 
as  live  in  pleasure,  and  will  not  bow  the  knee  to  Christ.  The 
time  will  have  come,  when  the  light  of  science  and  of  Chris- 
tianity wdll  have  rendered  obsole?te  the  grossness  of  idolatry, 
the  imposture  of  Mohammed,  the  superstitions  of  popery,  and 
the  impurity  of  infidelity.  A  religion  must  rise,  therefore, 
under  the  last  touchings  and  finishings  of  art,  where  infidels 
may  be  received  without  conversion ;  and  where  they  may  be 
converted  with  scarce  a  perceptible  change  in  doctrine,  heart, 
or  life;  and  where,  as  in  papal  countries,  the  thoughtless, 


AND    MEANS    OF   THEIR   DESTRUCTION.  127 

and  the  gay,  and  the  beautiful,  and  the  dissipated,  may  float 
together  down  the  stream,  to  the  sounds  of  music,  and  drink 
the  Lethean  cup,  and  wake  not  till  their  redemption  has  ceased 
for  ever.  All  this  abomination  of  desolation  is  predicted,  as 
attending  the  last  triumphs  of  pure  Christianity.  "  And  he 
said.  Go  thy  way,  Daniel :  for  the  words  are  closed  up  and 
sealed  till  the  time  of  the  end.  Many  shall  be  purified,  and 
made  white,  and  tried ;  but  the  wicked  shall  do  wickedly : 
and  none  of  the  wicked  shall  understand  ;  but  the  wise  shall 
understand." 

7.  One  other  source  of  opposition  to  the  progress  of  vital 
Christianity  remains  to  be  mentioned.  There  may  be  an  at- 
tempt to  wield  the  church  against  herself,  by  corrupting  the 
purity  of  revivals  of  religion.  Terrible,  by  the  power  of 
revivals,  as  an  army  with  banners,  her  victory  is  secure,  un- 
less fanaticism  can  be  substituted  for  pure  religion,  and  her 
compact  masses  be  broken  and  scattered  by  the  commotion  of 
unhallowed  passions  within.  In  this  manner  was  the  glory  of 
the  Reformation  eclipsed,  and  vital  religion,  in  the  time  of 
Cromwell,  made  a  scoff  and  a  by-word.  The  same  attempt 
was  made  in  New  England  early  in  the  days  of  our  father^. 
It  was  repeated  in  the  time  of  Whitefield  and  the  immortal 
Edwards,  with  lamentable,  though  with  but  partial  success. 
As  revivals  shall  become  more  extensive,  and  the  Spirit  of 
God  shall  awaken  larger  portions  of  the  community  at  once, 
opportunity  will  be  afforded  to  the  enemy  —  and,  apprised  of 
his  devices,  we  ought  not  to  think  that  the  opportunity  will  be 
neglected  —  of  mingling  false  fire  with  holy  zeal,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  throwing  discredit  upon  a  w^ork  which  threatens  a 
speedy  overthrow  of  his  empire. 

All  these  great  divisions  of  systematic  opposition  to  the 
Gospel  have,  where  circumstances  allowed,  been  defended  by 
the  sword.  Christianity,  in  her  first  attempts  to  disenthral 
the  world,  met  the  storms  of  ten  persecutions,  protracted 
through  a  period  of  three  hundred  years. 

The  false  prophet  established,  and  still  maintains,  his 
empire  by  force.  It  is  death  to  turn  from  Mohammed  to 
Jesus  Christ.  And  as  to  Popery,  in  her  dominions,  all  the 
wiles  and  corruptions  of  idolatry  and  imposture  have  been 
condensed  and  wielded  with  infernal  wisdom  and  malignity 
against  the  Gospel,  ever  since  the  apocalyptic  kings  gave 
their  power  to  the  beast.  And  when  atheism,  for  a  little 
moment,   abolished   popery,   its   terrific  power   was,  at   the 


128  RESOURCES    OF    THE   ADVERSARY, 

sarae  moment,  directed  with  indiscriminate  fury  against 
Christianity.  The  Bible  was  burnt;  the  Sabbath  blotted 
out ;  the  existence  of  God  denied ;  and  death  proclaimed 
an  eternal  sleep. 

The  Arian  heresy,  protected  by  the  sword,  wielded  against 
the  truth  a  furious  persecution.  In  Holland,  Arminius  at- 
tempted to  enlist  both  literature  and  the  civil  arm  for  the 
propagation  of  his  sentiments,  and,  to  some  extent,  succeeded. 
At  Geneva,  the  enemies  of  evangelical  sentiment,  as  appears 
from  recent  events,  do  not  rely  on  charity,  and  enlightened 
reason,  and  liberty  of  conscience,  but  upon  the  civil  power, 
to  protect  them  in  their  usurpations,  and  to  keep  back  the 
truth. 

And  now,  can  such  varied  and  mighty  resistance  be  over- 
come ?  Can  the  earth  be  enlightened  ?  Can  the  nations  be 
disenthralled  ?  Can  the  whole  creation,  which  has  groaned 
and  travailed  together  in  pain  until  now,  be  brought  out  of 
bondage  into  glorious  liberty  ?  Yes,  all  this  can  be  done, 
and  will  be  done.     Our  next  inquiry  then  is. 

By  what  means  shall  events  so  desirable  be  ac- 
complished? 

First  —  By  the  judgments  of  heaven,  in  which  the  Son  of 
Man  will  come  upon  the  strong  man  armed,  and  take  away 
his  armor. 

Secondly  —  By  the  universal  propagation  of  the  Gospel ; 
before  the  light  of  which,  idolatry,  imposture,  and  superstition, 
will  retreat  abashed. 

Thirdly  —  By  frequent,  and,  at  last,  general  revivals  of 
religion ;  giving  resistless  power  to  the  Gospel,  as  it  is  preach- 
ed to  every  creature. 

Then  will  come  to  pass  that  which  is  written.  Great 
voices  will  be  heard  in  heaven,  saying.  The  kingdoms  of  this 
world  are  become  the  kingdoms  of  our  Lord  and  of  his 
Christ :  as  the  voice  of  many  waters,  and  of  mighty  thun- 
derings,  saying.  Alleluia!  for  the  Lord  God  omnipotent 
reigneth. 

It  is  manifest  from  prophecy,  and  clearly  to  be  anticipated 
from  the  existing  state  of  the  world,  that  great  commotions 
and  distress  of  nations  will  exist,  antecedent  to  the  spiritual, 
universal  reign  of  Christ  on  the  earth.  Some  have  supposed 
that  these  calamities  will  fall  alike  upon  the  church  and  the 
world ;  that  as  yet  the  witnesses  are  to  be  slain  ;  and  that, 
for  three  years  at  least,  Christianity  will  seem  to  be  blotted 


AND    MEANS    OP   THEIR   DESTRUCTION.  129 

from  the  earth.  Wliereas,  manifestly,  the  judgments  which 
are  to  precede  the  glorj  of  the  latter  day,  are  to  fall  almost 
exclusively  upon  antichristian  nations.  And  if  the  witnesses 
are  yet  to  be  slain,  they  are  to  be  slain  in  the  street  of  that 
great  city,  which,  spiritually,  is  called  "  Sodom  and  Egypt "  — 
prophetic  symbols,  which  have  been  understood  to  designate 
countries  subject  to  the  dominion  of  antichrist.  The  very 
struggle  to  suppress  vital  Christianity  in  papal  countries,  called 
the  slaying  of  the  witnesses,  may  be,  and  probably  will  be,  the 
result  of  moral  causes  now  in  powerful  operation.  Science, 
and  commerce,  and  the  progress  of  evangelical  religion,  are 
fast  apprising  mankind  of  their  rights,  and  awakening  the 
desire  of  civil  and  religious  liberty.  And  this  slaying  of  the 
witnesses  may  be  the  last  struggle  of  those  despotisms,  to 
arrest  the  march  of  truth  and  freedom.  It  may  be  the  col- 
lision between  light  and  darkness  —  between  despotism  and 
liberty  —  which  shall  call  out  the  kings  of  the  earth  to  the 
battle  of  the  great  day  of  God  Almighty ;  when  he,  whose 
eyes  are  as  a  flame  of  fire,  on  whose  head  are  many  crowns, 
and  whose  vesture  is  dipped  in  blood,  shall  smite  the  nations 
with  the  sword  that  goeth  out  of  his  mouth,  and  rule  them 
with  a  rod  of  iron,  and  tread  the  wine-press  of  the  fierceness 
and  wrath  of  Almighty  God ;  when  the  angel  standing 
in  the  sun,  shall  summon  the  fowls  of  the  heavens  to  the 
supper  of  the  great  God  —  to  eat  the  flesh  of  kings,  and  of 
captains,  and  of  mighty  men. 

But  without  attempting  a  minute  exposition  of  prophecy, 
nothing  is  more  plainly  revealed,  than  the  visitation  of  the 
earth  with  unparalleled  judgments  and  revolutions,  prepara- 
tory to  that  state  of  light  and  peace  which  is  to  bless  the 
world.  So  long  as  Satan  can  wield  the  power  of  despotic 
governments  against  the  truth,  he  can  hold  his  goods  in 
peace.  But  these  defences  a  stronger  than  he  will  take 
away,  when,  in  awful  judgments.  He  will  come  upon  him. 
"He  shall  overturn,  and  overturn,  until  He,  whose  right  it  is, 
shall  reign.  The  day  of  vengeance  is  in  his  heart,  because 
the  year  of  his  redeemed  is  come.  The  foundations  of  the 
earth  do  shake ;  the  earth  is  utterly  broken  down ;  the  earth 
is  clean  dissolved  ;  the  earth  is  moved  exceedingly ;  the  earth 
shall  reel  to  and  fro  ;  and  the  Lord  shall  punish  the  host  of 
the  high  ones  that  are  on  high,  and  the  kings  of  the  earth 
upon  the  earth ;  and  they  shall  be  gathered  together  as  pris- 
oners are  gathered  in  the  pit ;  and  shall  be  shut  up  in  the 


130  RESOURCES    OF   THE   ADVERSARY, 

prison.  Then  the  moon  shall  be  confounded,  and  the  sun 
shall  be  ashamed,  when  the  Lord  of  hosts  shall  reign  in  Mount 
Zion,  and  in  Jerusalem,  and  before  his  ancients  gloriously. 
And  the  seventh  angel  poured  out  his  vial  into  the  air ;  and 
there  were  voices,  and  thunderings,  and  lightnings,  and  there 
was  a  great  earthquake,  such  as  was  not  since  men  were 
upon  the  earth,  so  mighty  an  earthquake  and  so  great." 

One  of  these  moral  earthquakes  has  already  shaken  Eu- 
rope to  its  centre  ;  and  the  thunderings  and  heavings  of  the 
unquiet  earth  proclaim,  that  one  wo  is  past,  and  behold, 
another  wo  cometh  quickly. 

When  these  systems  of  physical  resistance  are  destroyed, 
then  will  the  time  have  come  to  extend  the  institutions  of  the 
Gospel  throughout  the  world.  Benevolence,  like  the  air, 
will  move  to  fill  up  the  vacuum.  Like  the  light  from  its 
great  fountain,  it  will  fly  to  cheer  the  nations  who  sit  in 
darkness.  And  having  no  resistance  to  encounter,  but  the 
simple  power  of  error,  the  conflict  will  be  but  momentary, 
and  the  victory  complete.  This  also  is  in  accordance  with 
prophecy :  for  immediately  after  the  downfall  of  Babylon  is 
announced,  all  heaven  breaks  forth  in  ecstasy,  saying.  Let  us 
rejoice  and  give  honor  to  him,  for  the  marriage  of  the  Lamh 
is  come,  and  his  wife  hath  made  herself  ready.  The  church 
of  Christ  is  called  his  bride ;  and  the  conversion  of  the  nations 
to  Christianity  and  to  God,  the  day  of  her  espousals. 

That  this  glorious  victory  is  to  be  consummated  by  the 
special  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  is  equally  manifest.  The 
simple  presence  of  Christianity  would  no  more  convert  the 
heathen,  than  it  converts  those  where  it  already  exists. 
Were  every  family  on  earth  now  blessed  with  a  Bible  and  a 
pastor,  these,  without  the  effusions  of  the  Spirit,  would  not 
maintain  upon  the  earth  an  uncorrupt  nominal  Christianity, 
for  one  hundred  years.  Revivals  of  religion  are  alone  ade- 
quate to  the  moral  reformation  of  the  world.    All  other  means 

—  science,  legislation,  philosophy,  eloquence,  and  argument 

—  have  been  relied  on  in  vain.  The  disease  is  of  the  heart, 
and  they  reach  it  not.  But  revivals  touch  the  deep  springs 
of  human  action,  and  give  tone  and  energy  to  the  moral 
government  of  God.  They  multiply  families  that  call  upon 
the  name  of  the  Lord,  and  train  up  children  in  his  fear,  and 
churches,  constrained  by  the  love  of  Christ  to  propagate  the 
Gospel.  They  elevate  the  standard  of  liberality,  and  aug- 
ment the  capital  which  is  consecrated  to  the  renovation  of 


AND    MEANS    OF   THEIR   DESTRUCTION.  131 

the  world,  and  the  importunity  of  prayer  which  secures  its 
appHcation  and  efficacy.  They  multiply  the  host  of  evan- 
gelical ministers  and  missionaries.  They  repress  crime,  and 
purify  the  public  morality,  and  breathe  into  legislation  and 
the  intercourse  of  nations  that  spirit  of  the  Gospel,  which 
shall  banish  wars,  and  introduce  peace  upon  earth  and  good- 
will towards  men.  They  pour  day-light  upon  darkness,  and 
destroy,  with  a  touch,  the  power  of  sophistry.  Hence  no- 
thing is  so  terrible  to  the  enemies  of  evangelical  truth  as  re- 
vivals of  religion,  because  nothing  is  so  irresistible.  If  they 
oppose  them  by  violence,  they  move  on.  If  they  misrepre- 
sent them,  they  move  on.  If  they  ridicule  them,  they  move 
on.  If  they  imitate  them,  the  imitation  fails,  and  they  move 
on.  While,  often,  the  chosen  vessels  of  opposition  fall  under 
their  power  —  sending  panic  and  rage  through  the  ranks  of 
the  enemy.  It  is  owing  to  this  power  of  revivals,  that  they 
are  every  where,  by  the  wicked,  so  much  spoken  against ;  and 
all  the  infirmities  of  humanity,  which  attend  them,  gathered 
up  with  such  exultation,  and  urged  as  confirmation  strong, 
that  they  are  the  work  of  man,  and  not  the  work  of  God.  It 
is  reserved,  therefore,  for  revivals  of  religion  to  follow  in  the 
train  of  the  means  of  grace  with  increasing  frequency  and 
power,  until  a  nation  shall  be  born  in  a  day.  This  also  is 
predicted.  —  "  Who  art  thou,  O  mountain,  before  Zerubba- 
bel  ?  Thou  shalt  become  a  plain.  Not  by  might,  nor  by 
power,  but  by  my  Spirit  saith  the  Lord.  Drop  down,  ye  heav- 
ens, from  above,  and  let  the  skies  pour  down  righteousness. 
I  will  pour  water  upon  him  that  is  thirsty,  and  floods  upon 
the  dry  ground.  It  shall  come  to  pass  in  the  last  days,  saith 
God,  that  I  will  pour  out  my  Spirit  upon  all  flesh.  And 
then  shall  that  wicked  be  revealed,  whom  the  Lord  shall 
consume  with  the  spirit  of  his  mouth  and  shall  destroy  with 
the  brightness  of  his  coming." 

The  judgments  which  are  to  shake  down  antichristian  em- 
pires, and  cast  down  high  imaginations,  and  lay  open  the 
world  to  the  entrance  of  truth  and  the  power  of  the  Spirit,  are 
to  be  closely  associated  with  a  new  and  unparalleled  vigor  of 
Christian  enterprise.  Until  now,  the  church  will  have  been 
the  assailed  party,  and  stood  upon  the  defensive  :  but  hence- 
forth the  word  of  command  will  not  be.  Stand,  but  March. 
The  gates  of  the  holy  city  will  be  thrown  open  ;  the  tide  of 
war  will  be  rolled  upon  the  enemy ;  and  one  shall  chase  a 
thousand,  and  two  put  ten  thousand  to  flight. 


132  RESOURCES    OF   THE   ADVERSARY, 

The  means  and  efforts  for  evangelizing  the  world  must 
correspond,  however,  with  the  magnitude  of  the  result.  The 
idea  that  God  will  convert  the  heathen  in  his  own  good  time, 
and  that  Christians  have  nothing  to  do  but  to  pray  and  de- 
voutly wait,  is  found  in  no  canonical  book.  It  is  the  maxim 
of  covetousness,  and  sloth,  and  uncaring  infidelity.  We 
have  no  authority  for  saying,  what  some,  without  due  con- 
sideration, have  said,  that  God,  if  he  pleased,  could  doubtless 
in  a  moment  convert  the  whole  heathen  world  without  the 
Gospel.  It  might  as  well  be  said,  that  he  can,  if  he  please, 
burn  without  fire,  or  drown  without  water,  or  give  breath 
without  atmosphere,  as  that  he  can  instruct  intellectual  beings 
without  the  means  of  knowledge,  and  influence  moral  beings 
without  law  and  motive,  and  thus  reclaim  an  alienated  world 
without  the  knowledge  and  moral  power  of  the  Gospel.  It 
is  no  derogation  from  the  power  of  God,  that,  to  produce  re- 
sults, it  must  be  exerted  by  means  adapted  to  the  constitu- 
tion of  things  which  himself  has  established.  God  has  no 
set  time  to  favor  the  husbandman,  but  when  he  is  diligent  in 
business ;  and  no  set  time  to  favor  Zion,  but  when  her  ser- 
vants favor  her  stones  and  take  pleasure  in  the  dust  thereof. 
From  the  beginning,  the  cause  of  God  on  earth  has  been 
maintained  and  carried  forward  only  by  the  most  heroic 
exertion.  Christianity,  even  in  the  age  of  miracles,  was 
not  propagated  but  by  stupendous  efforts.  And  it  is  only  by 
a  revival  of  primitive  zeal  and  enterprise,  that  the  glorious 
things  spoken  of  the  city  of  our  God  can  be  accomplished. 

Nor  need  we  be  disheartened.  We  possess  a  thousand 
fold  the  advantage  of  apostles  and  primitive  Christians  for 
the  spread  of  the  Gospel.  And  shall  the  whole  church  on 
earth  —  shall  the  thousand  thousands  who  now  profess  the 
pure  religion,  be  dismayed  and  paralyzed  at  an  enterprise, 
which  had  once  been  well  nigh  accomplished  by  the  energies 
of  twelve  men  ? 

But  what  can  be  done  ?  It  would  require  ten  discourses 
to  answer  this  question  in  detail.  We  can  only  sketch  the 
outlines  of  that  moral  array,  by  which  Jesus  Christ  is  pre- 
paring to  come  upon  the  strong  man,  and  overcome  him,  and 
take  from  him  all  his  armor. 

1.  There  must  be  more  faith  in  the  church  of  God. 

All  the  uncertainties  and  waverings  of  unbelief  must  be 
swept  away  by  the  power  of  that  faith,  which  is  the  substance 
of  things  hoped  for  and  the  evidence  of  things  not  seen. 


AND    MEANS    OF   THEIR   DESTRUCTION.  138 

Those  "scenes  surpassing  fable,"  when  Satan  shall  be 
bound,  and  an  emancipated  world  shall  sing  hosanna  to  the 
Son  of  David,  must  rise  up  before  us  in  all  the  freshness  and 
inspiration  of  a  glorious  reality.  Such  faith,  and  only  such, 
will  achieve  again  the  wonders  it  wrought  in  other  days.  It 
has  lost  none  of  its  power.  Again,  it  will  subdue  kingdoms, 
work  righteousness,  obtain  promises,  stop  the  mouths  of  lions, 
quench  the  violence  of  fire,  escape  the  edge  of  the  sword, 
out  of  weakness  become  strong,  wax  valiant  in  fight,  and  put 
to  flight  the  armies  of  the  aliens.  For  this  is  the  victory 
over  the  world,  even  jour  faith. 

2.  There  must  be  a  more  intense  love  for  Christ  in  his 
church. 

Such  love  as  now  bums  dimly  in  the  hearts  of  Christians ; 
a  low,  and  languid,  and  wavering  affection  ;  halting  between 
the  opposing  attractions  of  earth  and  Heaven ;  may  answer 
for  standing  upon  the  defensive,  but  never  for  making  that 
vigorous  onset  which  shall  subdue  the  world  to  Christ.  Ef- 
fort will  never  surpass  desire.  And  as  yet  our  hearts  are 
not  equal  to  those  efforts  needed  for  the  achievement  of  vic- 
tory. They  linger  and  look  back  upon  the  world.  They 
hesitate,  and  slowly,  and  with  a  sigh,  part  with  substance  in 
penurious  measure.  Weight  hangs  as  yet  on  the  wheels  of 
the  Victor's  chariot :  and  never,  on  earth,  as  in  heaven,  will 
it  move, 

"  Instinct  with  spirit, 
Flashing  thick  flames,  ....  unless 
Attended  by  ten  thousand  thousand  saints." 

3.  There  must  come  an  era  of  more  decided  action,  before 
the  earth  can  be  subdued  to  Christ. 

Compared  with  the  exigency,  we  have  not,  as  yet,  the 
semblance  of  an  army  in  the  field ;  and  our  munitions  are 
yet  to  be  collected.  Two  hundred  souls  constitute  the  entire 
force,  which  twelve  millions  of  freemen,  cheered  and  blessed 
with  the  light  of  the  Gospel,  have  sent  forth  to  bring  the 
world  out  of  bondage.  And  yet  one  half  the  nation  is  panic- 
struck  at  the  drafts  thus  made  upon  her  resources  !  What 
has  been  done,  however,  is  but  mere  skirmishing  before  the 
shock  of  battle.  Half  the  subjects  of  Satan's  dark  empire  on 
earth  have  not  heard,  as  yet,  that  we  have  a  being.  And 
were  none  but  such  feeble  efforts  to  be  put  forth,  he,  instead 
12 


134         RESOURCES  OF  THE  ADVERSARY, 

of  coming  down  in  great  wrath,  would  keep  his  temper,  and 
leave  the  war  to  his  subalterns. 

Nothing  great  on  earth,  good  or  bad,  was  ever  accomplish- 
ed without  decisive  action.  The  cause,  in  the  moral  world, 
as  really  as  in  the  natural,  must  ever  be  proportioned  to  the 
effect  to  be  produced.  And  what  have  we  done,  as  yet,  to 
justify  the  expectation,  that  God,  by  such  means,  is  about  to 
make  all  things  new  ?  Could  our  independence  have  been 
achieved  by  such  indecisive  actions  as  we  put  forth  for  the 
emancipation  of  the  world  ?  Dear  brethren,  we  must  fix  our 
eye  earnestly  on  a  world  lying  in  wickedness :  our  hearts 
must  be  fully  set  upon  its  deliverance :  our  hands  must  be 
opened  wide  for  its  relief.  Not  only  the  ministers  of  religion 
must  give  themselves  wholly  to  this  work  ;  but  all  who  prize 
civil  and  religious  freedom  —  all  who  exult  ih  these  blessings 
must  come  forth  to  the  help  of  the  Lord  against  the  mighty. 
And  when,  to  all  who  are  now  cheered  by  the  light  of  reve- 
lation, the  deliverance  of  a  world  in  bondage  shall  become 
the  all-absorbing  object,  and  the  concentrating  point  of  holy 
enterprise  ;  then  speedily  will  the  angel  descend  from  heaven, 
with  a  great  chain,  to  bind  and  cast  into  the  bottomless  pit 
him  who  through  so  many  ages  has  deceived  the  nations. 
But, 

4.  For  this  glorious  achievement,  there  is  demanded  more 
courage  than  has,  in  modern  days,  been  manifested  by  the 
church  of  God. 

Wherever  circumstances  have  precluded  the  application  of 
force  for  the  defence  of  his  cause,  there  the  god  of  this  world 
has  attempted  to  fortify  it  by  a  perverted  public  sentiment. 
This,  while  it  predominates,  is  as  terrific  as  the  inquisition  ; 
and  if  not  as  bloody,  it  is  unquestionably  as  virulent,  over- 
bearing, and  severe.  Multitudes  shrink  before  it,  who  would 
not  hesitate  to  storm  the  deadly  breach ;  and  one  half  the 
power  of  the  Christian  church  is  doubtless  this  very  moment 
paralyzed  by  it,  if  not  even  arrayed  by  its  infiuence  against 
the  cause  of  Christ.  Fashion  is  the  Juggernaut  of  Christian 
lands ;  around  whose  car  pilgrims  of  all  conditions  gather, 
and  do  homage. 

Here,  then,  in  communities  civilized  and  nominally  Chris- 
tian, is  to  be  fought  one  of  the  keenest  battles ;  for  after  every 
strong  hold  is  demolished,  if  Satan  can  but  frame  the  laws  of 
honor  and  of  fashion,  he  will  not  fail  to  govern  by  maxims 
which  will  shut  out  the  Gospel,  and  perpetuate  the  dominion 


AND   MEANS    OF   THEIR   DESTRUCTION.  135 

of  sin.  And  Christians  are  the  first  to  be  emancipated.  While 
they  are  in  captivity,  the  world  will  be  in  chains.  Jesus 
Christ  must  have  entire  possession  of  his  own  soldiers,  before 
the  armies  of  the  living  God  can  put  to  flight  the  armies  of 
the  aliens. 

This  conflict  for  dominion  over  public  sentiment  is  coming 
on,  and  by  this  generation,  in  city  and  in  country,  it  is  to  be 
decided,  whether  an  evangelical  or  a  worldly  influence  shall 
prevail  —  whether  the  landmarks  of  Christian  morality  shall 
stand  against  the  inundations  of  vice,  or,  with  every  thing 
that  is  pure,  and  lovely,  and  of  good  report,  be  swept  away. 
Emboldened  by  the  pusillanimity  of  the  friends  of  virtue,  the 
enemy  have  become  audacious,  and  scarcely  covet  the  veil 
of  darkness,  but  seem  even  to  glory  in  their  shame.  And  if 
no  stand  is  made,  we  are  undone.  The  church  in  this  land 
will  go  into  captivity,  and  the  nation  is  undone.  Our  pros- 
perity and  voluptuousness  will  be  our  ruin  ;  and  short  and 
rapid  will  be  our  journey  from  the  cradle  to  the  grave.  But 
if  resistance  is  made,  then  will  the  waves  rise,  and  foam,  and 
roar,  and  dash  furiously  upon  those  who  shall  dare  to  make  a 
stand ;  and  birds  of  ill-omen  will  flap  their  sooty  wings,  and 
croak,  and  scream,  to  intimidate  and  dishearten  the  fearful, 
and  the  unbelieving ;  and  all  the  engines  of  bad  influence  will 
be  applied  to  prevent  that  coalition  of  patriotism  and  of  vir- 
tue, which  would  set  bounds  to  the  encroachments  of  evil, 
and  shed  day-light  upon  the  works  of  darkness,  and  stamp 
with  indelible  and  intolerable  infamy,  wickedness  in  high 
places  and  in  low  places. 

And  now,  custom,  with  silver  tongue,  will  plead  prescript 
tion  —  "  It  always  has  been  so,  and  always  will  be,  and  why 
should  we  attempt  innovation  ?  "  And  interest,  too,  will  plead 
necessity  —  *  How  can  I  withdraw  my  capital,  or  alter  my 
course  ?  To  refuse  to  do  wrong  a  little,  would  be  to  take 
away  my  children's  bread."  And  now,  difficulty,  with  good 
wishes  and  sorrowing  face,  will  plead,  "  Spare  thy  servant  in 
this  thing  —  is  it  not  a  little  one?"  While /ear  will  see  the 
giants,  the  sons  of  Anak,  and  call  out  for  care,  and  prudence, 
lest  we  should  act  prematurely,  or  be  righteous  overmuch. 
Petulance,  too,  will  lift  up  her  voice,  with  vexation  at  our 
presumptuous  meddling,  wondering  that  we  cannot  mind  our 
own  affairs,  and  let  other  people  alone.  And  even  charity, 
so  called,  will  draw  aside  her  veil,  for  the  archers  with 
poisoned  arrows  to  hit  us.     While  liberality,  provoked  be- 


136  RESOURCES    OF   THE    ADVERSARY, 

yond  endurance,  will  hail  upon  our  heads  the  hard  names  of 
"  bigot,  enthusiast,  fanatic,  hypocrite." 

All  this,  however,  we  could  easily  sustain,  were  there  no 
treachery  within.  But  our  hearts  are  yet  in  too  close  con- 
sultation with  flesh  and  blood.  "  What  will  the  world  think  ? 
What  will  the  world  say  ?     How  will  it  affect  my  reputation 

—  my  interest  —  my  ambition  —  or  even  my  usefulness  ?  — 
Suppose  I  step  in  as  a  kind  of  candid  mediator  between  the 
world  and  my  too  zealous  brethren,  taking  the  prudent  course, 
and  not  carrying  matters  too  far  ?  '*     O  that  prudent  course 

—  that  middle  ground  —  so  crowded,  when  the  lines  are  draw- 
ing between  Christ  and  the  world  !  Satan  desires  no  better 
troops  than  neutral  Christians.  And  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
abhors  none  more.  He  prefers  infidelity  to  lukewarm  Chris- 
tianity. "  I  would  that  thou  wert  either  cold  or  hot ;  so  then 
because  thou  art  neither,  I  will  spew  thee  out  of  my  mouth." 

As  to  cheating  Satan  out  of  his  empire  over  men,  by  a 
reversed  course  of  warfare,  he  has  no  objection  that  Chris- 
tians should  dream  about  it,  and  try  it.  But  we  mistake,  if 
we  suppose  our  wisdom  a  match  for  his  wiles ;  or  that  we 
can  so  prudently  drive  him  out  of  this  world,  as  that  he  will 
find  no  pretext  for  controversy.  Whenever  we  do  enough 
to  give  to  religion  a  solemn  reality  upon  the  minds  of  men, 
and  draw  the  cords  of  evangelical  niorality  with  such  power, 
as  shall  compel  reformation,  or  inflict  disgrace ;  we  must 
calculate  to  meet  his  resistance  who  reigns  in  the  hearts  of 
the  children  of  disobedience.  And  the  time  will  come,  when 
men  must  take  sides.  For  as  the  conflict  between  virtue 
and  vice  waxes  warm,  neither  side  will  tolerate  neutrality ; 
and  he  who  plants  his  foot  upon  neutral  ground,  will  select 
just  the  hottest  place  in  the  battle,  and  receive  the  fire  from 
both  sides. 

Two  things  are  required  of  all  who  would  be  found  on  the 
side  of  liberty  and  evangelical  morality.  One  is,  that  we 
will  not  do  wrong  in  obedience  to  custom :  the  other  is,  that 
we  will  not  be  accessary  to  the  wrong  done  by  others  —  that 
we  will  give  to  the  cause  of  virtue  the  testimony  of  correct 
opinions,  the  power  of  a  correct  example,  and  the  influence 
of  our  inflexible  patronage.  There  are  piety  and  principle 
enough  in  the  community  to  put  down  the  usurpations  of 
irreligion  and  crime,  if  the  sound  part  of  the  community  will 
only  awake,  and  array  itself  on  the  side  of  purity  and  order. 
But  we  must  come  out  and  be  sepai'ate,  and  touch  not  the 


AND    MEANS    OF   THEIR   DESTRUCTION.  137 

unclean  thing.  The  entire  capital  in  the  hands  of  honest 
and  moral  men,  which  is  employed  in  establishments  that 
corrupt  society,  must  be  withdrawn ;  and  that  patronage 
which  has  swelled  the  revenue  of  establishments  that  lend 
their  aid  to  the  cause  of  licentiousness,  must  be  turned  over 
to  the  side  of  purity  and  order.  Until  this  is  done,  we  shall 
not  cease  to  be  partakers  in  other  men's  sins.  The  press, 
that  mighty  engine  of  good  or  evil  in  a  free  country,  must  be 
enlisted  decisively  on  the  side  of  virtue  ;  and  its  perverted 
influence,  if  it  continue,  must  be  sustained  only  by  those 
whose  guilty  cause  it  espouses.  We  cannot,  as  Christians  — 
we  cannot,  as  patriots  —  give  our  patronage  to  that  press 
which  will  not  plead  the  cause  of  virtue,  and  which  will  pros- 
titute its  fearful  energies  to  the  cause  of  sin. 

5.  There  must  be  new  and  more  vigorous  efforts  to  in- 
crease the  number  and  power  of  evangelical  churches  in  our 
land. 

In  all  countries  the  tone  of  piety  and  evangelical  morality 
corresponds  exactly  with  the  number,  and  purity,  and  energy 
of  the  churches  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  The  w^ant  of  this 
organized  moral  power  in  many  parts  of  our  land  is  appalling. 
Our  population  multiplies,  and  the  ratio  of  good  moral  influ- 
ence declines,  and  ignorance  and  crime  are  coming  in  like  a 
flood.  All  that  has  been  done  by  Tract  Societies,  by  Sab- 
bath Schools,  by  Education  Societies,  and  by  the  National 
Society  for  Domestic  Missions,  is  as  the  drop  of  the  bucket 
to  the  ocean.  A  new  and  mighty  effort  is  demanded  to  send 
light  through  the  territories  of  darkness  —  to  repress  crime, 
and  perpetuate  our  civil  and  religious  institutions.  In  our 
large  cities,  especially,  is  the  increase  of  ignorance  and  licen- 
tiousness lamentable  and  ominous.  Here  wealth  and  tempta- 
tion concentrate  their  power  upon  masses  of  mind,  whose  in- 
fluence cannot  fail  to  affect  deeply  the  destiny  of  the  nation. 
If  they  send  out  a  vigorous  current  of  healthful  life-blood,  the 
whole  nation  will  feel  the  renovating  influence  :  but  if,  with 
every  pulsation,  they  send  out  iniquity  and  death,  no  power 
on  earth  can  avert  our  doom. 

A  moral  power  is  the  only  influence  that  can  save  our  cities. 
Mere  coercion  in  a  land  of  freemen,  will  not  avail.  Nor  will 
a  lax  nominal  Christianity  suffice,  where  offenders  may  find 
access  to  the  table  of  Christ,  and  protection  by  the  horns  of 
the  altar.  The  new  churches,  to  succeed,  should  be  com- 
posed of  persons  of  real  piety,  of  kindred  sentiment,  and  of 
12* 


1S8  HfiSOtRCES    OP   tSB   ADVERSARY, 

decided  character ;  and,  from  the  beginning,  consist  of  so 
many  members,  and  be  blessed  with  such  talent  and  devoted 
piety  in  the  ministry,  and  be  so  countenanced  and  sustained 
by  other  churches,  as  that  their  attraction  shall  not  fail  to 
bring  under  the  sacred  influence  of  the  Gospel  the  surround- 
ing community.  Until  our  cities  shall  thus  be  made  to  feel, 
in  every  part,  the  purifying  power  of  the  Grospel,  the  whole 
land  will  continue  to  send  to  them,  as  it  has  done,  hecatombs 
of  youthful  victims,  to  be  repaid  by  disappointed  hopes  and 
moral  contamination. 

6.  Special  effort  is  required,  to  secure  to  the  rising  gene- 
ration an  education  free  from  the  influence  of  bad  example, 
and  more  decidedly  evangelical. 

The  atmosphere  which  our  children  breathe,  from  the 
cradle  upward,  should  be  pure.  Instead  of  this,  it  would  not 
be  difficult  to  find  common  schools,  in  which  ignorance  and 
irreligion  predominate.  Even  where  the  intellect  is  culti- 
vated, the  heart  not  unfrequently  is  corrupted,  and  the  child 
made  wise  only  to  do  evil.  In  a  great  proportion  of  the 
higher  schools,  to  which  Christians  send  their  children,  little 
exists  of  a  decidedly  religious  tendency ;  while  in  some,  a 
powerful  influence  is  exerted  against  evangelical  sentiments 
and  piety. 

And  though  in  many  of  our  colleges  there  is  a  salutary 
religious  influence,  and  repeated  revivals  of  religion  are  en- 
joyed, in  none  is  the  influence  of  religion  so  decisive  as  it 
might  be ;  while  in  some,  to  which  pious  parents  send  their 
children,  the  influence  is  directly  and  powerfully  hostile  to 
religion. 

I  am  aware,  that  not  a  few  regard  religious  influence  in 
our  colleges  as  already  too  great,  and  that  an  effort  is  making 
to  separate  religion  from  science,  during  the  progress  of  a 
collegiate  education.  And  those  who  choose  to  rear  colleges, 
and  send  their  offspring  where  the  power  of  the  Gospel  shall 
be  excluded,  have,  doubtless,  a  right  to  do  so  —  answerable 
for  their  conduct  only  to  God.  But  no  Christian  can  do  this 
without  violating  the  vows  of  God  which  are  upon  him,  to 
train  up  his  child  in  the  nurture  and  admonition  of  the  Lord. 
And,  instead  of  a  compromise  in  the  evangelical  colleges  of 
our  land,  there  should  be,  as  easily  there  may  be,  a  more  de- 
cided tone  of  religious  influence.  Our  colleges  should  every 
one  of  them  be  blessed,  not  only  with  preaching,  but  with 
kind,  discreet,  and  assiduous  pastoral  instruction  and  care. 


A.MD    MEANS    OF   THEIR    DESTRUCTION.  139 

Why  should  these  precious  communities  of  inexperienced 
youth,  separated  from  parental  inspection,  and  exposed  to 
peculiar  temptation,  be  deprived  of  the  watchful  eye  and 
parental  voice  of  pastoral  exhortation  and  advice?  What 
parent  would  not  pray  with  more  faith,  and  sleep  more  qui- 
etly, if  he  knew  that  some  one,  acquainted  with  the  youthful 
heart,  and  appointed  to  watch  over  his  child,  had  gained  his 
confidence  and  affection,  and  was  praying  and  laboring  for 
his  salvation  ? 

There  is  no  period  in  life  when  the  heart  may  be  more 
successfully  assailed,  than  that  which  is  passed  in  a  college. 
And  there  is  no  class  of  human  beings,  among  whom  revivals 
may  be  promoted,  by  proper  pastoral  attention,  with  greater 
certainty,  or  with  greater  power  and  glory.  Nor  can  it  be 
expected,  that  the  church  will  ever  look  forth  fair  as  the 
morning,  until  effectual  care  is  taken,  that  in  her  higher 
schools  and  colleges,  her  children  shall  be  induced  to  conse- 
crate to  God  the  dew  of  their  youth. 

7.  The  vigor  of  charitable  effort  must  be  greatly  increased. 

As  long^  as  rich  men  shall  trust  more  in  uncertain  riches 
than  in  the  living  God,  and  the  covetous  shall  dare  to  heap 
up  treasures  to  themselves,  consecrating  to  Grod  scarcely  the 
crumbs  that  fall  from  their  table,  and  the  ambitious  shall 
insist  that  they  will  roll  in  splendor,  and  give  only  the  pittance 
which  can  be  spared  from  the  expense  of  a  wanton  ostenta- 
tion —  as  long  as  professors  shall  consume,  in  extra  gratifica- 
tions of  sensed  to  the  injury  of  health,  sums  that,  if  conse- 
crated to  Christ,  might  sufiice  to  extend  the  word  of  life  and 
the  institutions  of  the  Gospel  all  over  the  world  —  as  long  as 
avaricious  Christians  shall  so  extend  their  plans  of  business, 
with  the  increase  of  their  capital,  as  always  to  be  straitened 
in  the  midst  of  their  gains  —  and  as  long  as  parents  shall 
labor  to  amass  wealth  for  their  offspring,  only  to  paralyze 
their  enterprise,  and  corrupt  their  morals,  and  ensure  their 
ruin,  —  so  long  the  cause  of  God  on  earth  must  move  slowly. 
But  the  blame  must  rest  on  us.  There  is  at  this  moment,  in 
the  hands  of  Christians,  capital  enough  to  evangelize  the  world 
in  a  short  period  of  time,  and  without  the  retrenchment  of  a 
single  comfort,  and  only  by  the  consecration  to  Christ  of 
substance,  the  possession  of  which  would  be  useless,  and  often 
injurious.  It  is  not  required  of  Christian  nations  to  sustain 
the  entire  work  of  preaching  the  Gospel  to  all  the  unevan- 
gelized  population  of  the  earth.     Nothing  is  needed  but  to 


140  RESOURCES    OF   THE   ADVERSARY, 

erect  the  standard  in  pagan  lands  —  to  plant  tlie  seed  —  to 
deposit  the  leaven,  in  schools  and  in  churches,  until  each 
nation  shall  support  Gospel  institutions.  This  is  the  work 
to  which  God  in  his  providence  is  calling  the  churches.  Now, 
and  for  fifty  years  to  come,  the  substance  and  enterprise  of 
good  men  are  imperiously  demanded.  Within  that  period,  it 
is  not  improbable,  that  every  nation  may  be  so  far  evangelized, 
as  that  the  work  may  move  onward  to  its  consummation, 
without  extraneous  aid. 

8.  The  jealousies  of  Christians,  who  are  united  substan- 
tially in  their  views  of  evangelical  doctrine  and  religion,  and 
who  are  divided  only  by  localities,  and  rites,  and  forms, 
must  yield,  and  give  place  to  the  glorious  exigencies  of  the 
present  day.  The  amalgamation  of  denominations  is  not  re- 
quired. The  division  of  labor  may  greatly  augment  the 
amount;  and  the  provocation  to  love  and  good  works  may 
be  real  and  salutary,  and  still  be  conducted  without  invidious 
collision.  Like  the  tribes  of  Israel,  we  may  all  encamp 
about  the  tabernacle  of  God  —  each  under  his  own  standard 
—  and  when  the  ark  advances,  may  all  move  onward,  terrible 
only  to  the  powers  of  darkness.  And  if  the  enemies  of  right- 
eousness are  not  sufficient  to  rebuke  our  selfishness,  and  force 
us  into  a  coalition  of  love  and  good  works ;  then  verily  it  may 
be  expected  —  and  even  be  hoped  —  that  God,  by  the  fire  of 
persecution,  will  purge  away  our  dross,  and  take  away  our 
tin,  until  we  shall  love  him,  and  his  cause,  and  one  another, 
with  a  pure  heart,  fervently. 

9.  Let  me  add,  that  we  must  guard  against  the  dangers 
peculiar  to  a  state  of  religious  prosperity. 

There  is  no  condition  in  which  an  individual,  or  the 
church  at  large,  can  be  exempted  from  temptations.  And 
especially  as  the  church  shall  become  formidable,  and  bring 
upon  the  great  enemy  of  God  the  pressure  of  a  desperate 
extremity,  we  are  to  expect,  that  his  rage  will  increase,  and 
his  wiles  be  multiplied.  For  he  will  leave  the  world  only 
when  forced ;  and  will  fight  upon  the  retreat  —  giving  many 
a  desperate  battle,  when  it  shall  seem  as  if  the  necessity  was 
past  of  watching  against  his  devices.  Never,  therefore,  has 
the  necessity  of  vigilance  and  prayer  been  more  imperious 
than  now.  Let  all  the  churches,  then,  with  their  pastors, 
feel  deeply  their  dependence  on  God  ;  and  when  their  alms 
come  up  before  him,  and  his  Spirit  shall  descend  in  new  and 
glorious  showers,  let  them  watch  and  pray  that  they  enter 


AND    MEANS    OP   THEIR   DESTRUCTION.  141 

not  into  temptation,  and  experience  an  overthrow  in  the  mo- 
ment of  victory. 

To  fear  revivals,  because  attended  by  some  indications  of 
human  imperfection,  would  be  weak  and  wicked:  and  far 
from  the  church  of  God  be  the  presumptuous  confidence,  that 
nothing  deeply  injurious  to  the  general  interests  of  religion 
can  be  blended  with  a  real  work  of  the  Spirit.  But  though 
I  am  not  without  solicitude  on  this  head,  I  do  trust  and  ex- 
pect, that  God  will  preserve  his  churches,  and  cause  pure 
religion  and  undefiled'to  prosper,  and  not  permit  the  adversary 
to  turn  our  glory  into  shame.  O,  could  he  do  it,  how  would 
his  minions  scream  out  their  joy !  and  how  would  Zion  be 
confounded,  and  in  this  day  of  rejoicing,  be  compelled  to 
hang  her  harp  upon  the  willows,  and  sit  down  to  weep  in 
sackcloth  and  ashes !     To  conclude, 

Will  any  of  you,  my  hearers,  in  this  glorious  day,  take  side 
against  the  cause  of  Christ !  It  will  be  a  fearful  experiment. 
What  the  mind  and  counsel  of  God  have  purposed  to  do  for 
the  melioration  of  man  is  now  hastening  to  its  consummation, 
with  the  intenseness  of  infinite  benevolence,  under  the  guid- 
ance of  unerring  wisdom,  and  by  the  impulse  of  almighty 
power.  And  wo  unto  him  who  contendeth  with  his  Maker. 
The  lines  are  now  drawing,  and  preparation  is  fast  making 
for  the  battle  of  the  great  day  of  God  Almighty.  And  who 
is  on  the  Lord's  side  ?  Who  !  Will  any  of  you,  in  this  sub- 
limely interesting  moment,  stand  on  neutral  ground!  Re- 
member, that  neutrality  is  treason :  and  if  persisted  in,  is  as 
fatal  as  the  unpardonable  sin.  Jesus  Christ  will  have  the 
decided  services  of  his  people.  Already  has  he  denounced  as 
enemies,  all  who  will  not  labor  and  suffer  for  him.  He  that 
is  not  for  me^  is  against  me:  and  whosoever  shall  deny  me 
before  men,  him  will  I  also  deny  before  my  Father  vjhich  is 
in  heaven.  Think  7iot  that  I  came  to  send  peace  on  earth  ; 
fthat  is,  that  the  progress  of  truth  will  be  without  resistance 
and  persecution ;)  /  came  not  to  send  peace,  but  a  sword. 
For  I  am  come,  (that  is,  the  effect  of  my  coming  will  be, 
as  the  Gospel  prevails,)  to  set  a  man  at  variance  agaifist  his 
father,  and  the  daughter  against  her  mother;  and  a  man^s 
foes  shall  be  they  of  his  own  household.  He  that  loveth 
father  or  mother  more  than  me,  is  not  worthy  of  me :  and 
he  that  taheth  not  his  cross,  and  followeth  after  me^  is  not 
worthy  of  me.  He  that  findeth  his  life,  shall  lose  it  ;  and 
he  that  loseth  his  life  for  my  sake,  shall  fold  it.   These  statutes 


142  RESOURCES    OF   THE   ADVERSARY,   ETC. 

are  not  repealed.  And  if  the  laws  of  Christian  discipleship 
could  bind  men  to  give  up  every  relative,  and  even  life  itself, 
for  Christ  and  his  Gospel,  no  excuse,  surely,  will  screen  from 
condemnation  those  who  flinch  and  temporize,  where  the 
sacrifices  required  are  comparatively  trivial.  If  such  as 
would  not  lay  down  their  life  for  Christ,  cannot  be  accepted 
—  what  will  become  of  those,  in  Christian  lands,  who  will  not 
lay  down  their  substance,  nor  risk  their  reputation,  nor  lift  a 
finger,  to  advance  his  cause  ? 

Is  there  a  Christian  here,  who  cannot,»for  the  year  to  come, 
double  the  amount  of  his  charities  ?  Is  there  one  who  will 
not  now  purpose  in  his  heart  to  do  it  ?  Brethren,  the  time 
is  short  in  which  we  here  have  opportunity  to  express  our 
boundless  obligations  to  the  Saviour.  The  fashion  of  the 
world  passeth  away.  Next  year,  our  tongue  may  be  employ- 
ed in  celestial  praises,  and  our  substance  be  in  other  hands. 
What  remains,  then,  but  that  this  day  we  dedicate  ourselves, 
and  our  all,  anew,  to  Him,  who  washed  us  in  his  blood  ?  The 
tone  of  feeling  which  we  cherish  to-day,  may,  by  a  holy  sym- 
pathy, and  by  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  be  propagated 
through  this  great  city  —  through  this  powerful  nation  —  and 
through  the  world.  The  augmented  religious  enterprise,  to 
which  we  pledge  ourselves  this  day,  may  tell  quickly  in  the 
very  heart  of  Satan's  empire,  and  cause  light  to  spring  up  in 
retreats  of  deepest  darkness. 

If  any  man,  however,  is  smitten  with  fear,  let  him  retreat. 
If  any  man  is  faint-hearted,  let  him  draw  back.  If  any  man 
tremble  at  his  proportion  of  the  charges  for  evangelizing  the 
whole  world,  let  him  depart.  If  any  man  is  alarmed  at  the 
noise  which  precedes  the  last  conflict,  let  him  hide  himself, 
with  his  talent,  in  the  earth !  But  let  all  who  love  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  in  sincerity,  and  wait  for  his  appearing  and 
glory  —  give  themselves  anew  to  his  service ;  and  break  the 
earthen  vessel ;  and  lift  up  their  light ;  and  shout,  The  sword 
of  the  Lord  and  of  Gideon :  and  the  victory,  and  more  than 
the  victory,  shall  be  given  to  the  people  of  the  saints  of  the 
Most  High  God.  And  a  great  voice  out  of  heaven  shall  be 
heard,  saying.  Behold,  the  tabernacle  of  God  is  with  men,  and 
he  will  dwell  with  them,  and  they  shall  be  his  people,  and 
God  himself  shall  be  with  them,  and  be  their  God, 


THE  EARTH  FILLED  WITH  THE  GLORY  OE 
THE  LORD. 

BY 

REV.    SAMUEL    MILLER,    D.   D. 

And  the  Lord  said,  I  have  pardoned  according  to  thy  word :  but  as  truly  as  I  live,  all 
the  earth  shaU  he  filled  with  the  glory  of  the  Lord.  —Numbers  14 :  20,  21. 

These  words  were  spoken  on  a  very  distressing,  and,  to  the 
eye  of  man,  a  very  discouraging  occasion.  When  the  twelve 
men  who  had  been  sent  from  the  wilderness  of  Paran  to  spy 
out  the  land  of  promise,  brought  back  their  report,  the  mass 
of  the  people  were  almost  overwhelmed  with  alarm  and  dis- 
couragement. Nay,  overcome  by  apprehension,  and  infatua- 
ted by  a  spirit  of  unbelief  and  rebellion,  they  proposed  to  make 
choice  of  another  leader,  and  return  back  to  Egypt.  With 
this  ungrateful  and  daring  revolt  the  Lord  was  greatly  dis^ 
pleased,  and  threatened  to  give  them  up  to  his  destroying 
judgments,  and  to  disinherit  them  forever.  Moses,  however, 
interceded  for  the  people  in  a  most  touching  strain  of  impor- 
tunate prayer  :  and  he  prevailed.  The  Lord  said,  "  I  have 
pardoned  them  according  to  thy  word.  But  as  truly  as  I 
live,  the  earth  shall  be  filled  with  the  glory  of  the  Lord," 
As  if  he  had  said — "  Unbelieving  and  rebellious  as  this  peo- 
ple now  appear,  and  utterly  desperate  as  their  prospects  may 
seem  ; — neither  my  plans  nor  my  promises,  in  regard  to  them 
or  the  world,  shall  be  frustrated.  My  cause  shall  finally  tri- 
umph over  all  the  infatuation  and  rebellion  of  man.  The 
whole  earth  shall,  in  due  time,  he  filled  with  my  glory" 

There  are  three  things  in  the  passage  before  us  which 
demand  our  notice  —  the  import  of  the  promise  which  it 
contains  ; — the  reasons  which  we  have  for  believing  that  this 
promise  will,  in  due  time,  he  realized  {  and  the  duty  devolving 
on  us  in  relation  to  the  promise. 


144  THE    EARTH    FILLED    WITH 

I.  Let  US  attend  to  the  import  of  the  promise  be- 
fore us.  This  import,  expressed  with  so  much  solemnity 
of  asseveration,  is  large  and  precious.  "  As  I  live,"  saith  the 
Lord,  "all  the  earth  shall  be  filled  with  the  glory  of  the 
Lord." 

Glory  is  the  manifestation  of  excellence.  The  glory  of 
God  is  that  display  of  his  most  blessed  character  and  will, 
which  opens  the  way  for  his  intelligent  creatures  to  know,  to 
love,  and  to  obey  him.  This  glory  is  exhibited  in  various 
ways.  It  shines  in  all  the  works  of  creation.  All  the  works 
of  God,  we  are  told,  praise  him.  "  The  heavens  declare  his 
glory,  and  the  firmament  showeth  his  handy  work.  Day  unto 
day  uttereth  speech,  and  night  unto  night  showeth  knowledge. 
There  is  no  speech  nor  language  where  their  voice  is  not 
heard.  Their  line  is  gone  out  through  all  the  earth,  and  their 
words  to  the  end  of  the  world."  Again,  the  glory  of  God  is 
manifested  by  the  works  of  his  providence.  Here  his  wisdom, 
his  power,  and  his  benevolence,  gloriously  shine.  The  Lordy 
we  are  told,  is  Jcnown  —  that  is,  is  made  known — hy  the 
judgments  which  he  executeth.  But  above  all,  is  the  glory  of 
God  displayed  in  the  work  of  Eedemption  ;  in  that  great  plan 
of  love  and  mercy  by  a  Redeemer,  which  was  first  revealed 
to  the  parents  of  our  race  immediately  after  the  fall ;  which 
was  more  and  more  unfolded  in  the  ceremonial  economy ;  and 
which  reached  its  meridian  brightness,  when  the  Saviour,  the 
blessed  "  Sun  of  Righteousness,"  rose  upon  a  dark  world.  In 
this  wonderful  plan  of  salvation,  the  glory  of  God  shines  with 
its  brightest  lustre.  Here  all  his  perfections  unite  and  har- 
monize, and  shine  with  transcendent  glory.  Now,  when  the 
gospel,  which  proclaims  this  plan  of  mercy,  shall  be  preached 
and  received  throughout  the  world ;  when  every  kindred,  and 
people,  and  nation,  and  tongue,  shall  not  only  be  instructed 
in  its  sublime  doctrines,  but  also  brought  under  its  benign 
and  sanctifying  power ;  then,  with  emphatic  propriety,  may  it 
be  said  that  "  the  earth  is  filled  with  the  glory  of  the  Lord." 
As  the  highest  glory  of  which  an  individual  creature  is  capa- 
ble, is  to  bear  the  image  of  his  Maker ;  so  the  highest  glory 
of  which  our  world  at  large  is  capable,  is  to  be  filled  with  the 
holy  and  benevolent  spirit  of  Him  "  who  is  the  brightness  of 
the  Father's  glory,  and  the  express  image  of  his  person ; "  is 
to  have  the  knowledge  and  love  of  the  Saviour  reigning  over 
all  the  population  of  our  globe,  "  from  the  rising  of  the  sun 
even  unto  the  going  down  of  the  same," 


THE  GLORY  OF  THE  LORD.  145 

It  is  this  universal  prevalence  of  the  true  religion ;  that 
religion  which  alone  can  enlighten,  sanctify,  and  save ;  that 
religion  which  imparts  the  highest  physical  and  moral  glory, 
wherever  it  reigns,  and  in  proportion  as  it  reigns  ; — it  is  the 
universal  prevalence  of  this  glory  which  is  promised  in  our 
text.  When  this  holy  and  benevolent  religion  shall  fill  the 
world,  then  shall  be  brought  to  pass  the  promise  which  is 
here  recorded.  Yes,  when  the  benign  power  of  the  Gospel, 
and  all  the  graces  and  virtues  which  it  inspires,  shall  reign 
over  all  the  family  of  man  ;  when  the  highest  intellectual 
and  moral  culture  shall  be  everywhere  enjoyed ;  when  the 
voice  of  prayer  and  praise  shall  be  heard  in  every  tabernacle ; 
when  the  Sabbath  shall  be  universally  kept  holy  to  God ; 
when  the  Christian  law  of  marriage,  that  noblest  and  most 
precious  bond  of  social  purity  and  happiness,  shall  be  univer- 
sally and  sacredly  obeyed ;  when  the  temperance  reformation, 
without  any  unscriptural  extremes,  or  fanatical  perversions, 
shall  pervade  the  world ;  when  "  wars  shall  cease  to  the  ends 
of  the  earth ; "  when  fraud  and  violence  shall  be  banished 
from  the  abodes  of  men ;  when  the  voice  of  profaneness  shall 
no  more  pollute  the  lips  or  the  ears  of  creatures  claiming  to 
be  rational ;  when  tyranny  and  oppression,  in  every  form, 
shall  come  to  an  end ;  when  sectarian  feuds  and  jealousies 
shall  be  unknown,  save  only  in  the  pages  of  history ;  when 
all  heresy  and  error  shall  give  place  to  the  power  of  truth, 
and  all  vice  and  profligacy  to  the  reign  of  Christian  purity  ; 
when  the  Mosque  and  the  Pagoda  shall  be  transformed  into 
temples  of  the  Christian's  God ;  when  the  habitations  of  sav- 
age cruelty  shall  become  the  abodes  of  holiness  and  peace ; 
when  the  activity  of  a  greatly  extended  commerce  shall  be 
directed  chiefly  to  the  intellectual  and  moral  culture  of  soci- 
ety; when  justice,  order,  industry,  brotherly  kindness,  and 
charity  shall  universally  reign  ;  —  in  a  word,  when  the  church 
of  God,  with  all  its  choicest  influences,  shall  fill  the  earth ;  — 
then  shall  the  promise  before  us  be  gloriously  realized.  This 
will  be  emphatically  "  the  glory  of  the  Lord ;  "-^  the  glory  of 
his  power;  the  glory  of  his  holiness;  the  glory  of  his  love. 
It  will  be,  in  its  measure,  the  same  glory  which  forms  the 
blessedness  of  the  heavenly  world ;  the  same  glory  in  which 
those  "  whose  robes  have  been  washed  in  the  blood  of  the 
Lamb,  walk  in  white  raiment  before  the  throne  of  God."  O, 
how  glorious  shall  this  fallen  world  be,  when  all  the  nations 
which  compose  it  shall  be  "just,  fearing  God;"  when  those 
13 


146  THE    EARTH   FILLED    WITH 

who  are  nominally  "  the  people  of  God,  shall  be  righteous ;  '^ 
when  every  family  shall  be  the  abode  of  purity,  order,  and 
love  ;  when  every  individual  shall  be  a  "  temple  of  the  Holy 
Ghost ; "  and  when,  from  pole  to  pole,  the  song  of  jubilee 
shall  be  heard  —  "  Blessing,  and  honor,  and  glory,  and  power 
be  unto  Him  who  sitteth  on  the  throne,  and  to  the  Lamb,  for 
ever  and  ever !  AUeluia !  for  the  Lord  God  Omnipotent 
reigneth  I " 

Such  appears  to  be  the  import  of  the  promise  before  us. 
Let  us  next  inquire, 

n.     What  reason  have  we   for   believing  that 

THESE    SCENES    OF    GLORY    WILL    ONE   BAY   BE   REALIZED? 

This  is  to  the  Christian's  heart  a  most  interesting  inquiry. 
Let  us  ponder  it  with  a  seriousness  corresponding  to  its  un- 
speakable importance. 

And  here  it  is  obvious  to  remark,  that  there  will  be  no 
need  of  miracles  (in  the  ordinary  sense  of  that  word)  to  bring 
about  the  accomplishment  of  the  promise  before  us.  Only 
suppose  the  genuine  power  of  the  gospel,  which  we  see  to 
reign  in  thousands  of  individuals  and  families  now — actually 
to  reign  in  all  hearts,  and  to  pervade  the  world, — and  the 
work  is  done.     But  how  can  we  hope  for  this  ?     I  answer — 

1.  First  of  all,  and  above  all,  our  hope  is  founded  on  Jeho- 
vah^s  faithful  and  unemng  promise.  This  is,  undoubtedly, 
the  chief  ground  of  confidence.  For  that  a  religion  which 
has  been  preached  for  eighteen  centuries,  and  which  has  been 
as  yet  received,  even  nominally,  by  less  than  a  fourth  part  of 
mankind,  will  one  day,  and,  at  most,  in  a  century  or  two  from 
this  hour,  pervade  and  govern  the  world,  we  can  expect  with 
confidence  only  on  the  promise  of  Him  who  is  Almighty,  and 
who  cannot  lie.  But  this  promise  is,  surely,  enough  for  the 
most  unwavering  confidence.  "  Hath  he  said,  and  shall  he 
not  do  it  ?  Hath  he  spoken,  and  shall  he  not  make  it  good  ? 
Jehovah  is  not  a  man  that  he  should  lie,  nor  the  son  of  man 
that  he  should  repent,"  Heaven  and  earth  shall  pass  away, 
but  one  jot  or  tittle  of  all  that  has  gone  out  of  his  mouth 
shall  not  pass  away,  until  all  be  fulfilled. 

Let  us  attend,  then,  to  some  of  the  promises  on  this  subject 
with  which  the  word  of  God  abounds.  Take  the  following 
as  a  small  specimen  of  the  "  exceeding  great  and  precious  " 
catalogue  found  in  the  inspired  volume.  "  The  kingdoms  of 
this  world  shall  become  the  kingdoms  of  our  Lord,  and  of  his 
Christ,"  Rev.  11  :  15.     "Ask  of  me,  and  I  will  give  thee  the 


THE  GLORY  OF  THE  LORD.  147 

heathen  for  thine  inheritance,  and  the  uttermost  parts  of  the 
earth  for  thy  possession,"  Ps.  2:8.  "  All  the  ends  of  the 
earth  shall  remember  and  turn  to  the  Lord  ;  and  all  the  kin- 
dreds of  the  nations  shall  worship  before  him,"  Ps.  22  :  27. 
"  From  the  rising  of  the  sun,  even  unto  the  going  down  of 
the  same,  my  name  shall  be  great  among  the  Gentiles  ;  and 
in  every  place  shall  incense  be  offered  unto  my  name,  and  a 
pure  offering  ;  for  my  name  shall  be  great  among  the  heathen, 
saith  the  Lord  of  hosts,"  Mai.  1 :  11.  "And  I  will  gather 
all  nations  and  tongues,  and  cause  them  to  come  and  see  my 
glory,"  Isa.  6Q  :  18.  "And  it  shall  come  to  pass  in  the  last 
days,  that  the  mountain  of  the  Lord's  house  shall  be  estab- 
lished in  the  top  of  the  mountains,  and  shall  be  exalted  above 
the  hills,  and  all  nations  shall  flow  unto  it,"  Isa.  2:2.  "  His 
name  shall  be  continued  as  long  as  the  sun ;  men  shall  be 
blessed  in  him,  and  all  nations  shall  call  him  blessed,"  Ps.  72 : 
17.  "  The  wilderness  and  the  solitary  place  shall  be  glad  for 
them,  and  the  desert  shall  rejoice  and  blossom  as  the  rose. 
It'  shall  blossom  abundantly,  and  rejoice  even  with  joy 
and  singing ;  the  glory  of  Lebanon  shall  be  given  unto,  it, 
and  the  excellency  of  Carmel  and  Sharon  ;  they  shall  see  the 
glory  of  the  Lord,  and  the  excellency  of  our  God,"  Isa.  35  : 
] ,  2.  "  And  the  dominion,  and  the  greatness  of  the  kingdom 
under  the  whole  heaven,  shall  be  given  to  the  people  of  the 
saints  of  the  Most  High ;  and  all  dominions  shall  serve  and 
obey  him,"  Dan.  7  :  27.  "  He  shall  say  to  the  North,  Give 
up ;  and  to  the  South,  Keep  not  back :  bring  my  sons  from 
far,  and  my  daughters  from  the  ends  of  the  earth,"  Isa.  43  : 
6.  "  His  way  shall  be  known  upon  earth,  and  his  saving 
health  among  all  nations,"  Ps.  67  :  2.  "  And  the  glory  of 
the  Lord  shall  be  revealed,  and  all  flesh  shall  see  it  together, 
for  the  mouth  of  the  Lord  hath  spoken  it,"  Isa.  40 :  5. 
"  Ethiopia  shall  stretch  forth  her  hands  unto  God,"  Ps.  68  : 
31.  "  The  isles  shall  wait  for  his  law,"  Isa.  42  :  4.  "  He 
shall  have  dominion  from  sea  to  sea,  and  from  the  river  unto 
the  ends  of  the  earth,"  Zech.  9  :  10.  "All  the  ends  of  the 
earth  shall  see  the  salvation  of  our  God,"  Isa.  52:10.  "  We 
see  not  yet  all  things  put  under  him,"  Heb.  2:8.  "  But  he 
must  reign  until  all  enemies  shall  be  put  under  his  feet," 
1  Cor.  15:  25.  "At  the  name  of  Jesus  every  knee  shall 
bow,  and  every  tongue  shall  confess  that  he  is  Christ  to  the 
glory  of  God  the  Father,"  Phil.  2  :  10,  11.  "For  the  earth 
shall  be  filled  with  the  knowledge  of  the  glory  of  the  Lord, 
iis  the  waters  cover  the  sea,"  Hab.  2:14, 


I 


148  THE    EARTH    FILLED    WITH 

Such  is  a  specimen  of  Jehovah's  promises  respecting  the 
future  prevalence  and  power  of  the  gospel.  Read  them, 
Christians,  with  joy  and  confidence.  Ponder  them  daily  and 
well  in  your  hearts,  as  a  source  of  continual  encouragement. 
And  remember  that  they  shall  all,  without  failure,  be  glorious- 
ly accomplished.  I  cannot  tell  you  precisely  when  this  happy 
period  shall  arrive;  but  I  can  tell  you,  on  authority  not  to  be 
questioned,  that,  at  the  appointed  time,  this  earth,  so  long  the 
abode  of  sin  and  sorrow,  shall  be  restored  from  its  desolations, 
and  made  to  bloom  like  "  the  garden  of  the  Lord."  I  can 
tell  you  that  her  Almighty  King  will  yet,  notwithstanding 
every  unfavorable  appearance,  "  make  Zion  beautiful  through 
his  own  comeliness  put  upon  her ;  that  he  will  yet  cause  her 
righteousness  to  go  forth  as  brightness,  and  her  salvation  as  a 
lamp  that  burneth,"  Isa.  62  :  1.  These  promises  may  not,  in- 
deed, be  all  fully  accomplished,  until  we,  who  now  listen  to 
their  recital,  shall  be  all  sleeping  in  the  dust ;  or,  rather,  if  by 
the  grace  of  God,  we  be  made  meet  for  it,  —  rejoicing  before 
the  throne,  in  possession  of  still  brighter  glory.  But,  "  though 
we  die,  God  shall  surely  visit  his  people  "  in  mercy.  Though 
neither  we,  nor  even  the  next  generation  shall  be  permitted 
to  witness  on  earth  the  complete  development  of  "  the  latter 
day  glory ;"  yet  let  us  rejoice  in  the  assurance  that  it  will 
come  in  due  time,  and  in  all  its  promised  blessedness.  "  The 
vision  is  yet  for  an  appointed  time ;  but  in  the  end  it  shall 
speak  and  not  lie  ;  though  it  tarry,  wait  for  it ;  because  it  will 
surely  come,  it  will  not  tarry,"  Hab.  2 :  3. 

2.  But  further,  our  confidence  that  the  religion  of  Christ 
will,  one  day,  fill  the  whole  earth  with  its  glory,  is  confirmed 
by  the  consideration,  that  this  religion  is,  in  its  nature,  adapts 
ed  above  all  others  to  he  a  universal  religion. 

In  all  the  forms  of  false  religion  with  which  our  world  is 
filled,  there  is  something  which  renders  them  unfit  or  imprac- 
ticable for  universal  adoption.  Some  are  adapted  to  particu- 
lar climates  only;  others  to  particular  states  of  society;  a 
third  class  to  particular  orders  of  men  ;  so  that,  in  their  very 
nature,  they  cannot  be  universal.  Indeed  none  of  the  Pagans 
seem  ever  to  have  thought  of  a  universal  religion,  as  either  to 
be  expected  or  desired.  Nay,  even  the  true  religion,  as  it 
appeared  in  its  infant  and  ceremonial  form,  under  the  old 
economy,  was  not,  in  its  external  method  of  dispensation, 
adapted  to  be  universal.  For,  not  to  mention  many  other 
circumstances,  it  required  all  its  professors  to  go  up  "  three 


tHE  GLORY  OF  THE  LOKfi.  149 

times  a  year  "  to  the  same  temple  to  worship.  And,  accord- 
ingly, long  before  the  Messiah  came  in  the  flesh,  it  was  made 
perfectly  apparent,  from  so  many  of  the  descendants  of  Abra- 
ham being  scattered  abroad  in  different  and  distant  parts  of 
the  world,  that  it  was  becoming  to  the  Jewish  people,  as  such, 
an  impracticable  system.  Suppose  all  the  four  quarters  of 
our  globe  to  be  filled  with  zealous,  devoted  Jews.  Every  one 
sees  that  a  rigid  compliance  with  their  ritual  would  be  physic- 
ally impossible.  And,  therefore,  when  the  time  for  ShiloKs 
appearance  drew  near,  it  became,  every  year,  more  and  more 
plain,  —  however  slow  some  of  that  "  peculiar  people  "  were 
in  learning  the  lesson,  —  that  the  ceremonial  economy  must 
come  to  an  end ;  —  must,  of  course,  yield  to  a  system  less  re- 
strictive in  its  character,  and  more  fitted  for  "  every  kindred, 
and  people,  and  nation,  and  tongue." 

Accordingly,  when  we  examine  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ, 
in  its  New  Testament  form,  we  find  it  divested  of  every  feat- 
ure and  circumstance  adapted  to  confine  it  to  any  particular 
territory  or  people.  Its  doctrines,  its  worship,  and  its  system 
of  moral  duty,  are  all  equally  adapted  to  universality.  It 
teaches  "  that  God  has  made  of  one  blood  all  nations  of  men 
to  dwell  on  the  face  of  the  whole  earth,"  Acts  17  :  26.  — 
*-'  That  he  is  no  respecter  of  persons,  but  that  in  every  nation 
he  that  feareth  God  and  worketh  righteousness  is  accepted  of 
him,"  Acts  10 :  34,  35.  That  he  is  alike  related  to  all  the 
children  of  men,  as  their  Creator,  Preserver,  and  Benefactor  ; 
and  that  the  high  and  the  low,  the  rich  and  the  poor,  the  mon- 
arch and  the  slave,  all  stand  upon  a  level  in  his  sight,  and 
have  all  equal  access,  if  penitent  and  believing,  to  the  throne 
of  his  heavenly  grace.  It  proclaims  one  method  of  justifica- 
tion for  all  classes  of  men ;  one  kind  of  preparation  for  heav- 
en ;  and  that  not  ceremonial,  but  moral  and  spiritual ;  and  one 
great  code  of  moral  duty,  equally  applicable  to  the  learned 
and  the  ignorant,  the  polished  and  the  rude,  the  civilized  and 
the  savage.  And  as  all  the  great  doctrines  and  principles  of 
the  religion  of  Christ  are  equally  adapted  to  the  whole  hu- 
man family ;  so  the  rational  and  benevolent  laws,  the  unosten- 
tatious rites,  the  simple  worship,  and  the  whole  spirit  and 
requirements  of  this  religion,  are  no  less  adapted  to  be  uni-. 
versally  received  as  the  religion  of  the  whole  race  of  man. 
It  has  nothing  local ;  nothing  national ;  nothing  exclusive, 
except  its  uncompromising  holiness ;  no  burdensome  ritual ; 
no  tedious  or  expensive  pilgrimages ;  no  blazing  altars ;  no 
13* 


150  THE    EARTH    FILLED    WITH 

bloody  sacrifices  ;  no  intricate  genealogies  ;  no  special  adapt- 
edness  to  any  particular  form  of  civil  government,  or  occupa- 
tion in  life.  In  short,  every  thing  in  this  blessed  religion  ;  — 
the  simple  costume  which  it  wears ;  the  heavenly  spirit  which 
it  breathes ;  its  law  of  marriage  ;  its  holy  Sabbath  ;  its  meek- 
ness, forgiveness,  humility,  and  benevolence ;  applying  alike 
to  all  classes  of  men,  and  to  all  states  of  society  ;  —  proclaim 
that  it  is  suited  to  the  condition  of  man,  in  all  nations  and 
ages  ;  to  meet  the  exigencies  of  all ;  to  supply  their  wants ; 
to  refine  and  invigorate  their  talents ;  to  elevate  their  charac- 
ter ;  and  to  unite  all  who  receive  it,  into  one  sanctified  and 
happy  brotherhood.  Surely  this  character  of  our  holy  religion 
is  adapted  to  confirm  our  confidence  that  it  will,  one  day,  as 
Jehovah  has  promised,  gloriously  fill  the  world  ;  and  that, 
literally,  in  Christ,  "  all  the  families  of  the  earth  shall  be 
blessed." 

3.  I  have  only  to  add,  under  this  head,  that  the  present 
aspect  of  the  world  furnishes  much  reason  to  hope  that  the  ac^ 
compUshment  of  this  promise  is  drawing  nigh. 

It  cannot  be  denied,  indeed,  that,  on  the  principles  of 
worldly  calculation,  there  is  much  in  the  present  condition  of 
mankind  to  distress  and  dishearten.  More  than  seven  parts 
out  of  eight  of  the  whole  population  of  our  globe,  are  still  sunk 
in  deplorable  darkness  and  corruption.  Of  the  eight  hundred 
millions  of  immortal  souls,  which  the  earth  is  supposed  to 
contain,  only  about  sixty,  or,  at  most,  seventy  millions  are 
nominally  Protestants.  The  great  mass  of  the  remaining 
seve7i  hundred  and  forty  millions^  are  either  Pagans  or  Mo- 
hammedans, or  nearly  as  destitute  as  either,  of  saving,  evan- 
gelical light.  Of  these  sixty  or  seventy  millions  of  nominal 
Protestants,  only  about  a  third  part,  or  a  little  more  than 
twenty  millions,  can  be  said  to  have  the  real  gospel  of  Christ, 
in  anything  like  its  purity,  so  much  as  preached  among  them. 
Of  those,  which,  in  a  large  sense  of  the  word,  we  may  call 
evangelical  congregations,  probably  not  more  than  one  half, 
or  twelve  millions,  are  even  professors  of  religion,  in  any  dis- 
tinct or  intelligent  import  of  the  terms.  That  is,  of  the  eight 
hundred  millions  of  the  world's  population,  but  little  more 
than  an  eightieth  part  are  even  professors  of  relig- 
ion, in  any  scriptural  form,  or  claim  to  know  anything  of  its 
sanctifying  power.  How  many  of  these  professors  of  religion 
we  may  calculate  upon  as  probably  real  Christians  —  ah  !  — 
that  is  a  question  on  which  the  humble,  enlightened  believer, 


THE  GLORY  OF  THE  LORD.  151 

though  he  may  hesitate  and  weep,  will  forbear  to  attempt  an 
estimate ! 

Such  is,  confessedly,  at  present,  the  dark  and  distressing 
state  of  the  great  mass  of  our  world's  population.  To  what  a 
lamentably  small  extent  is  that  "  glory,"  of  which  our  text 
speaks,  found  to  reign  among  our  fellow  men  !  What  a  little 
remnant,  among  all  the  multiplied  millions  of  mankind,  have 
any  adequate  or  saving  knowledge  of  the  religion  of  Christ ! 
O  what  a  moral  charnel-house  does  our  world  appear  1  What 
a  valley  of  "  dry  bones  !  —  exceeding  dry  !"  "  Can  these  dry- 
bones  live  ?  "  Yes,  they  shall  live  !  The  mouth  of  the  Lord 
hath  spoken  it.  And  jeven  now,  amidst  the  darkness  and 
misery  which  brood  over  the  greater  part  of  the  earth,  there 
are  appearances,  every  where,  which  promise  the  approach  of 
better  days.  It  is  but  a  short  time  since  a  large  part  of  the 
inhabited  globe  was  absolutely  closed  against  the  missionaries 
of  the  cross.  Ten  or  fifteen  years  ago,  Egypt,  Arabia,  Persia, 
China,  the  Burman  Empire,  and  a  large  part  of  Africa  and 
her  islands  ; ' —  in  short,  by  far  the  greater  portion  of  the  Pa- 
gan and  Mohammedan  world,  were  rigorously  shut  against  the 
Gospel.  Missionaries  could  not  so  much  as  enter  those  coun- 
tries, without  incurring  either  certain  death,  or  the  most  im- 
mediate risk  of  it.  But  now  it  may  be  said,  without  exag- 
geration, that  the  whole  world  is  opened  wide  to  the  bearers 
of  the  Gospel  message.  I  know  not  that  there  is,  at  this  hour,  a 
single  portion  of  the  globe,  to  which  the  enlightened  and  pru- 
dent missionary  may  not  obtain  some  degree  of  access, — 
unless  it  be  some  portions  which  bear  the  Christian  name,  but 
are  under  the  spiritual  despotism  of  "  the  man  of  sin,  the  son 
of  perdition,  who  exalteth  himself  against  all  that  is  called 
God."  He  who  "  sits  as  Governor  among  the  nations,"  seems 
to  be  spreading  a  natural  preparation,  if  I  may  so  express  it, 
around  the  world,  for  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel  among  all 
nations.  He  seems  to  be  slowly  and  silently  laying  a  train 
for  mighty  movements  in  time  to  come.  He  seems  to  be 
showing  us  how  easy  it  is  for  him  to  incline  the  hearts  even 
of  his  enemies  —  from  worldly  motives  —  not  merely  to  per- 
mit the  Gospel  to  enter  their  territories,  but  to  invite  its 
ministers  to  come  in  and  proclaim  their  message.  Never 
before  was  so  large  a  portion  of  mankind  accessible  to  the 
evangelical  laborer.  Never  before  was  there  so  much  evi- 
dence that  the  most  massive  fabrics  of  superstition  are  crum- 
bling to  the  dust,  and  ready  to  give  place  to  a  more  pure  and 


152  THE   EARTH   PILLED    WITH 

rational  system.  Never  before  were  there  so  many  appear- 
ances which  promise  the  fulfilment  of  that  prediction,  that 
"  nations  shall  be  born  in  a  day."  It  is  believed  by  some 
that  there  are  at  this  moment,  in  the  city  of  Calcutta,  several 
thousands  of  young  Hindoos,  who  are  disposed  seriously  to 
inquire  on  the  subject  of  salvation,  and  by  no  means  indis- 
posed to  exchange  their  miserable  superstition  for  a  better 
form  of  religion.  Only  suppose  such  a  body  of  young  men 
prepared  by  the  grace  of  God,  and  going  forth  in  the  spirit 
and  power  of  Christ  into  every  part  of  Hindoostan,  and  how 
might  that  deplorable  moral  wilderness  be  transformed  into  a 
fertile  and  delightful  garden  of  the  Lord !  How  might  a 
thousand  Asiatic  deserts  be  made  speedily  to  "  rejoice  and 
blossom  as  the  rose  !  "  What  say  you,  my  Christian  friends, 
to  appearances  and  opportunities  such  as  these  ?  O  ye  who 
profess  to  know  something  of  the  sweetness  of  redeeming 
love,  and  the  preciousness  of  Christian  hopes,  shall  Ave  be 
blind  to  these  wonderful  openings  of  Providence  ?  Shall  we 
be  deaf  to  these  importunate  invitations  to  enlighten  and  save 
perishing  men  ? 

Contemplate,  further,  the  singular  progress  of  various 
forms  of  improvement  throughout  the  civilized  world  ;  all  of 
which  may  be  considered  as  bearing  on  the  great  promise 
contained  in  our  text.  Behold  the  intercourse  between  dis- 
tant portions  of  the  globe  increasing  every  day  with  a  rapidity, 
and  to  an  extent,  beyond  all  former  precedent !  Think  of 
the  endless  improvements  in  the  means  of  conveyance  from 
one  part  of  the  world  to  another  ;  thereby  investing  mission- 
ary enterprises  with  facilities  for  carrying  on  their  operations 
unknown  to  our  fathers.  Consider  the  wonderful  improve- 
ments in  the  art  of  'printing^  and  indeed  in  all  the  mechanic 
arts,  rendering  the  multiplication  of  bibles,  and  other  pious 
writings,  for  the  benefit  of  the  world,  practicable  and  easy 
to  an  extent  formerly  thought  incredible.  Contemplate  the 
extension  of  commercial  enterprise,  which  late  years  have 
produced,  presenting  the  means  of  benefiting  mankind  to  an 
amount  altogether  new  and  extraordinary.  Think  of  the 
enlargement  of  our  acquaintance  with  the  different  languages 
of  the  globe ;  it  being  probable  that  ten  persons,  if  not  twenty, 
now  understand  other  living  languages  than  their  own,  where 
one  had  this  knowledge  fifty  years  ago.  Think  of  the  Bible 
having  been  translated  into  more  than  one  hundred  and  fifty 
languages  at  this  hour  spoken  among  men ;  and  of  the  pro- 


THE  GLORY  OF  THE  LORD.  153 

ces3  of  preparing  the  Scriptures  for  circulation  in  every  part 
of  the  globe,  still  going  on  with  increasing  rapidity.  And 
dwell,  for  a  moment,  on  what  is  no  less  remarkable  —  the 
progress  of  public  sentiment  in  regard  to  the  conversion  of 
the  world  to  God.  What,  ten  years  ago,  would  have  been 
thought  the  extravagance  of  visionary  dreaming,  in  regard  to 
this  great  enterprise,  is  now  looked  at,  and  talked  about,  with 
a  grave  familiarity  and  confidence  which  it  is  delightful  to 
contemplate.  It  is  less  than  ten  years  since  a  proposal  from 
a  warm-hearted  Christian  in  the  State  of  New  York,  to  supply 
the  destitute  of  one  populous  county  with  Bibles,  was  re- 
garded as  a  bold  attempt,  and  received  with  thrilling  interest. 
Not  many  months  afterwards,  the  young  men  of  the  college 
at  Princeton,  resolved,  with  a  moral  daring  which  was  then 
almost  ridiculed  as  presumptuous,  to  attempt  to  supply  the 
destitute  of  the  whole  state  of  New  Jersey  with  Bibles  in  two 
years.  Yet  bold,  and  almost  hopeless  as  this  pledge  appeared 
at  the  time  of  its  adoption,  it  was,  substantially,  and  with 
wonderfully  apparent  ease,  redeemed.  Hardly  was  this  ac- 
complished, before  a  resolution  was  adopted  to  attempt  the 
supply  of  the  destitute  in  the  whole  United  States  with  Bibles 
within  a  specified  time.  For  this  resolution,  when  adopted, 
many  even  of  the  warmest  friends  of  the  Bible  cause  were 
not  prepared ;  but  feared  it  would  prove  a  presumptuous  and 
abortive  undertaking.  Yet,  as  far  as  anything  of  the  kind  is 
practicable  in  such  a  country  as  this,  it  was  faithfully  and 
happily  accomplished.  But  scarcely  was  this  done,  when  the 
enlarged  spirit  of  public  benevolence  —  still  augmenting  in  a 
geometrical  ratio,  called  for  a  still  wider  and  nobler  field  of 
pious  effort.  To  supply  all  the  accessible  portions  of  the 
whole  WORLD  with  the  word  of  life,  within  a  specified  time, 
was  the  sublime  enterprise  proposed  to  the  American  Bible 
Society,  and  to  other  Bible  Societies  in  our  own  and  foreign 
lands.  A  like  rapid  increase  has  been  observable  in  the 
means  furnished  by  public  liberality,  for  carrying  on  the 
great  enterprises  of  Christian  benevolence  which  distinguish 
and  adorn  our  age.  They  are,  in  all,  from  thirty  to  fifty  fold, 
and  in  some  more  than  a  hundred  fold,  beyond  what  they 
were  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago.  Now,  in  regard  to  all 
these,  and  other  striking  analogous  facts,  I  ask,  my  friends, 
how  shall  we  account  for  this  astonishing  progress  of  public 
sentiment  in  regard  to  plans  for  the  conversion  of  the  world 
to  God  ?     Can  we  possibly  consider  it  as  merely  accidental. 


154  THE    EARTH   FILLED    WITH 

and  without  meaning?  Surely  such  a  conclusion  would  be  as 
much  opposed  to  reason  as  to  piety.  May  we  not  rather  con- 
sider it  as  a  precious  omen,  that  the  great  work  which  it 
contemplates  is  happily  drawing  near,  and  will,  before  long,  be 
gloriously  realized  ? 

And  to  me,  it  appears  worthy  of  special  notice,  that  there 
are  so  many  indications  that  the  English  language^  —  the 
language  of  those  parts  of  the  world  which  are  most  favored 
with  Gospel  light,  will  probably,  ere  long,  become  the  prevail- 
ing language  of  the  whole  world.  The  extensive  and  rapid 
progress  of  this  language  on  the  American  continent  ;  in  all 
the  British  possessions  and  dependencies  in  the  Eastern 
w^orld ;  in  the  continent  of  New  Holland ;  in  many  of  the 
islands  of  the  sea  ;  and,  in  short,  in  every  part  of  the  earth 
where  American  or  British  missionaries  are  permitted  to  lift 
up  their  voice  for  Christ,  is  truly  one  of  the  most  striking 
and  interesting  spectacles  now  passing  before  the  contem- 
plative mind.  If  the  time  should  ever  again  recur,  when  the 
"  whole  earth  shall  be  of  one  language  and  one  speech,''  the 
English,  I  am  persuaded,  is  more  likely  to  be  that  language 
than  any  other.  And  may  we  not  consider  its  gradual  and 
remarkable  extension,  as  one  of  the  means  by  which  the 
"  earth  is  to  be  filled  with  the  glory  of  the  Lord  ?  " 

While  we  contemplate  some  of  those  prominent  features 
in  the  aspect  of  the  present  day,  which  seem  to  portend  an 
unexampled  spread  of  the  Gospel;  —  we  ought  not  to  over- 
look some  shades  in  the  picture  which  certainly  wear  a* very 
different  appearance.  Infidelity  and  heresy  were,  probably, 
never  more  busy  in  circulating  their  virulent  poison,  than  at 
the  present  hour.  Principles  at  war  with  all  social  stability 
and  order,  were,  perhaps,  never  more  widely  extended  in 
civilized  society ;  and  in  both  the  civil  and  religious  commu- 
nity, the  ebullitions  of  morbid  excitement  have  never  been 
more  threatening  in  their  appearance.  That  there  is  a  great 
battle  yet  to  be  fought  with  these  opposing  powers,  no  reflect- 
ing mind  can  for  a  moment  doubt.  How  violent  or  long- 
continued  the  conflict  may  be,  I  presume  not  to  calculate. 
But  let  no  man's  heart  fail  him  on  account  of  these  approach- 
ing struggles.  A  little  before  the  advent  of  the  Messiah,  it 
was  said,  "  I  will  shake  all  nations,  and  the  desire  of  all 
nations  shall  come  ;  and  I  will  fill  my  house  with  glory,  saith 
the  Lord  of  hosts."  And,  in  like  manner,  may  we  not  hope 
that  all  the  corruption  in  principle,  and  all  the  morbid  fever- 


THE    GLORY    OF    THE    LORD.  155 

ishness  in  practice,  which  exhibit  so  revolting  an  aspect  at 
the  present  time,  may  result,  like  many  a  process  in  the 
natural  world,  in  which  the  animal  body  is  renovated  and 
strengthened  by  the  consequences  of  a  subdued  fever ;  and  in 
which  the  gradual  and  complete  subsidence  of  feculent  matter 
is  hastened  even  by  the  violent  agitation  of  an  impure  fluid  ? 
It  is  no  new  thing  either  for  infidelity  or  fanaticism  to  furnish 
an  antidote  to  its  own  poison,  by  disclosing  the  malignity  of 
its  virus,  in  the  deadliness  of  its  effects ;  and  thus  creating  an 
extensive  and  permanent  loathing  of  those  moral  potions 
which  allure  but  to  destroy.  Many  are  "running  to  and 
fro ; "  but  my  hope  is,  that  "  knowledge  will  be  thereby 
increased ; "  and  that  the  present  febrile  state  of  the  social 
body,  will  soon  terminate,  under  the  control  of  Him  who  is 
able  to  bring  good  out  of  evil,  —  in  more  firm  and  established 
moral  health ;  and  in  more  widely  extended,  and  better 
directed  efforts  than  ever,  for  promoting  the  universal  reign 
of  knowledge,  religion,  and  happiness  among  men.  It  re- 
mains that  we 

III.  Inquire,  What  is  our  present  duty  in  relation 
TO  the  promise  before  us  ?     And  here, 

1.  Undoubtedly,  our  first  duty  is  to  believe  the  promise. 
This  is  the  very  least  that  can  be  demanded.  Unbelief 
"  makes  God  a  liar ; "  poisons  the  very  fountain  of  Christian 
confidence  ;  cuts  the  nerves  of  all  spiritual  exertion  ;  and 
tends  to  discouragement  and  despondency.  To  what  purpose 
has  Jehovah  promised,  if  even  his  own  people  will  not  hear 
and  believe  ?  We  may  say  now,  I  fear,  to  the  great  majority 
of  those  who  bear  the  Christian  name,  as  the  Master  himself 
said  to  the  desponding  disciples  on  their  way  to  Emmaus  — 
"  O  fools,  and  slow  of  heart  to  believe  all  that  the  prophets 
have  spoken !  "  Ah,  my  friends,  the  lack  of  faith  is  the 
great,  crying  sin,  not  of  an  ungodly  world  only,  but  eminently 
of  Christians.  It  is  the  littleness  of  our  faith  which  makes 
us  dwarfs  in  spiritual  stature  ;  cowards  in  conflict  and  in 
enterprise  ;  narrow-minded  in  our  views  and  plans  of  duty  ; 
and  niggards  in  sacrifice  and  in  contribution  to  the  cause  of 
Christ.  Yes,  it  is  the  sin  and  the  misery  even  of  the  sin- 
cere disciples  of  Christ,  that  the  promises  of  God  have  so 
little  daily  influence  on  their  practical  habits.  Christians! 
be  afraid  of  unbelief ;  be  ashamed  of  unbelief ;  only  believe, 
and  act  as  if  you  believed ;  and  you  shall  see  the  salvation 
of  God. 


156  THE    EARTH   FILLED    WITH 

2.  Another  duty  incumbent  upon  us,  in  relation  to  this 
promise,  is  to  labor  and  pray  without  ceasing  for  its  accom- 
plishment.  They  are  undoubtedly  guilty  of  an  unwise  and 
criminal  perversion  of  God's  word,  who  infer,  because  he  has 
promised  a  specific  and  rich  blessing,  and  will  certainly  bring 
it  to  pass,  that  therefore  they  may  repose  in  a  state  of  entire 
inaction  and  unconcern  respecting  the  event.  There  is  no 
piety,  my  friends,  in  that  confidence  which  neglects  prayer, 
and  which  does  not  add  to  prayer  diligent  effort  to  attain  that 
for  which  it  prays.  Show  me  thy  faith  by  thy  works,  is  a 
maxim  equally  of  reason  and  revelation.  God's  kingdom  is  a 
kingdom  of  means.  He  never  did,  and  probably  never  will, 
convey  the  light  of  the  Gospel  to  any  people,  by  direct 
miracle ;  but  by  the  agency  of  man.  He  "  will  be  inquired 
of,"  he  declares,  by  us  —  to  accomplish  even  that  which  he 
has  promised,  and  which  he  fully  intends  to  bring  about. 
And  although  he  is  able  to  effect  all  his  purposes  of  mercy 
and  salvation  without  the  instrumentality  of  man's  labors, 
yet  he  condescends  in  all  cases  to  employ  them.  And  is  it 
not  a  mercy  that  he  does  require  and  employ  them  ?  Does 
not  every  reflecting  man  perceive  that  it  is  a  wise  and  benign 
arrangement  of  Providence  which  renders  constant  activity  of 
body  and  mind  indispensable  to  the  highest  physical,  intel- 
lectual, and  moral  enjoyment  ?  And  can  any  one  doubt  that 
it  is  an  equally  wise  and  merciful  arrangement  which  makes 
it  our  duty  to  pray,  and  exert  ourselves  without  ceasing  to 
promote  the  reign  of  salvation  throughout  the  world  ?  Not 
only  is  it  certain  that  the  great  King  of  Zion  has  commanded 
us  to  send  the  Gospel  to  every  creature  ;  not  only  is  it  mani- 
fest that  we  may  properly  estimate  our  Christian  character 
by  the  degree  in  which  we  take  an  active  interest  in  the 
conversion  of  the  world ;  but  it  is  equally  plain,  that  every 
fervent  prayer  we  offer,  and  every  sincere  effort  we  make  for 
hastening  this  great  consummation,  has  a  tendency  to  benefit 
our  own  souls,  as  well  as  the  souls  of  others  ;  to  increase  our 
faith ;  to  inflame  our  love  ;  to  enlarge  our  visions ;  in  a  word, 
to  make  us  more  like  Christ,  and  to  impart  a  richer  prepara- 
tion for  the  holy  joys  of  his  presence.  In  short,  we  may  say 
of  him  who  is  much  employed  in  fervent  prayer,  and  in  dili- 
gent l^bor  and  sacrifice  for  the  conversion  of  the  world  to 
God,  —  that  he  is  twice  blessed ;  blessed  as  a  benefactor  of 
his  fellow-men,  and  as  the  receiver  of  a  blessing,  by  the  very 
act  of  conferring  benefits  on  others. 


THE  GLORY  OF  THE  LORD.  157 

3.  A  third  duty,  in  relation  to  tlie  promise  in  our  text,  is, 
that  in  laboring  for  the  spread  of  the  gospel,  no  adverse 
occurrence,  however  painful,  ought  ever  to  discourage  us,  or 
at  all  to  weaken  either  our  confidence  or  our  efforts.  What 
could  be  more  discouraging  than  the  state  of  the  visible 
church  when  the  promise  before  us  was  given  ?  Yet  the 
promise  itself  really  prohibited  all  despondency.  If,  indeed, 
we  had  anything  short  of  Jehovah's  promise  to  rely  upon, 
when  difficulties  or  disappointments  arose,  we  might  despond. 
But  with  that  promise,  we  may  meet  the  most  distressing 
difficulties  without  fear.  What  though  some  of  our  fondest 
hopes  and  plans  are  frustrated  ?  What  though  some  of  those 
instruments  on  which  the  highest  confidence  was  placed,  un- 
expectedly fail  ?  What  though  the  lamented  JEvarts,  and 
Cornelius,  and  Wisner,  follow  each  other  in  quick  succession, 
to  their  eternal  reward,  and  leave  us  to  mourn  over  the  sore 
bereavement  of  the  missionary  cause  ?  What  though  one 
beloved  brother  and  sister  after  another  falls,  in  the  flower  of 
life,  and  on  the  fields  whitening  to  the  harvest  ?  What 
though  even  the  hand  of  savage  violence  be  permitted  to  cut 
down  young,  zealous  and  promising  heralds  of  salvation, 
when  just  about  to  present  the  glorious  Gospel  to  their  mer- 
ciless murderers  ?  Our  tears  may  flow  over  bereavements 
such  as  these.  They  ought  to  flow.  But  let  no  thought  of 
discouragement  arise.  Frail  instruments  may  die;  but  the 
"  Captain  of  Salvation  "  lives.  Is  the  military  commander 
disheartened,  when,  in  the  shock  of  battle,  some  of  his 
choicest  subalterns  fall  around  him  ?  Not  if  he  has  the  heart 
of  a  soldier.  And  shall  "  the  good  soldier  of  Jesus  Christ " 
have  less  courage  ?  In  fact,  every  adverse  occurrence  ought 
only  to  constrain  us  to  turn  our  confidence  from  the  creature, 
and  to  place  it  more  firmly  and  entirely  on  the  Lord  of  all 
creatures.  Tell  us  not,  then,  of  the  difficulties  which  beset 
our  enterprise  for  the  conversion  of  the  world.  Tell  us  not, 
that,  going  on  as  the  Christian  church  has  done  for  eighteen 
centuries,  it  will  take  thousands  of  ages  completely  to  evan- 
gelize all  nations  ;  or  rather,  that,  at  that  rate  of  progress, 
there  is  little  hope  that  the  work  can  ever  be  accomplished. 
We  know  it  all.  And  if  our  dependence  were  on  the  wisdom 
and  power  of  man,  we  might  abandon  all  hope.  But  in  the 
name  and  strength  of  Jehovah,  our  covenant  God,  who  can 
never  fail  or  grow  weary,  we  may  go  forward  with  confi- 
dence, in  the  face  of  every  difficulty;  intimidated  by  no 
14 


158  THE    EARTH    FILLED    AVITH 

danger;  disheartened  by  no  disappointment  or  adverse  oc- 
currence. Nay,  how  often  has  it  happened  that  those  events, 
which  we  considered  as  deeply  calamitous,  and  over  which 
we  mourned,  as  greatly  hindering  the  Gospel,  —  have  resulted 
in  its  signal  and  extensive  furtherance  !  When  Stephen,  the 
first  martyr,  was  stoned  to  death  by  an  infuriated  mob,  to 
whom  he  came  with  a  message  of  love,  "  devout  men,"  we 
are  told,  '*  carried  him  to  his  burial,  and  made  great  lamenta- 
tion over  him."  But,  mark  the  event !  That  persecution, 
though  not  so  intended  by  the  persecutors,  became  the  means 
of  sending  many  ministers  of  the  Gospel  away  from  Jerusa- 
lem, in  various  directions,  and  thus  of  extending  and  building 
up  the  church  of  God,  instead  of  effecting  its  destruction,  as 
the  malignant  adversary  had  confidently  expected. 

4.  A  further  duty,  in  reference  to  the  promise  before  us, 
is,  that  we  pray  without  ceasing  for  the  power  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  to  render  all  the  means  which  are  employed  for  its 
accomplishment,  efiectual.  When  w^e  recollect  the  extent 
and  difiiculty  of  the  work  to  be  done  ;  how  many  millions 
are  yet  in  darkness  and  misery ;  how  hard  and  full  of  enmity 
the  human  heart  ;  and  how  obstinately  the  w^arnings  and 
entreaties  of  mercy  have  been  resisted ;  we  may  well  despair 
of  human  wisdom  and  strength,  and  look  to  Almighty  power 
alone  for  success.  "^  It  is  not  by  might  or  by  power,  but  by 
my  Spirit,"  saith  Jehovah,  that  means  are  attended  with  a 
saving  energy.  Had  we  millions  of  the  most  learned,  elo- 
quent, and  holy  preachers  in  Christendom  to  send  forth,  and 
all  the  funds  that  could  be  asked  or  desired  for  this  enter- 
prise ;  —  all  would  be  in  vain,  unless  the  power  of  the 
Almighty  Spirit  went  along  with  the  laborers.  While,  there- 
fore, we  labor  with  unwearied  perseverance  for  the  conversion 
of  the  world  ;  while  we  raise  funds  with  growing  liberality  ; 
while  we  select,  instruct,  and  send  forth  the  most  able  and 
devoted  missionaries  that  we  can  find,  and  while  we  employ 
all  the  means  in  our  power  for  imparting  the  Gospel  to  every 
creature  ;  let  us  remember,  that  all  will  be  unavailing,  unless 
the  Holy  Spirit  accompany  and  give  efficacy  to  the  means 
employed.  Let  every  thing  pertaining  to  the  spread  of  the 
Gospel,  be  done  under  the  deep  impression,  that,  in  our  own 
strength  we  can  effect  nothing ;  that  as  the  promise  is  Jeho- 
vah's w^ord,  so  the  accomplishment  of  it  is  Jehovah's  work ; 
that  to  Him,  of  course,  for  bringing  to  pass  w^hat  he  has 
promised,  every  eye  and  every  heart  ought  to  be  directed. 


THE    GLOllY    OF    THE    LORD.  159 

And  allow  me,  my  beloved  friends,  to  say,  we  are  never 
likely  to  be  either  so  happy,  or  so  successful  in  any  enter- 
prise for  extending  the  Redeemer's  kingdom,  as  when  we  lie 
in  the  dust  of  abasement,  sensible  of  our  utter  inability  to 
command,  by  our  own  power,  the  least  portion  of  the  blessing 
which  we  seek ;  and  placing  all  our  dependence  for  success, 
at  every  step,  on  the  Holy  Spirit's  life-giving  energy.  And  I 
must  also  be  allowed  to  say,  that  in  my  own  view,  this  doctrine, 
viz.,  that  success  is  all  of  God,  instead  of  being  a  legitimate 
source  of  discouragement,  is,  while  it  humbles,  at  the  same  time, 
one  of  the  most  comforting  and  animating  of  all  doctrines. 
For  though  it  be  most  true,  that  "  he  who  planteth  is  nothing, 
and  he  who  watereth  is  nothing  —  but  God  that  giveth  the 
increase ; "  —  it  is  also  equally  true,  that  all  hearts  are  in  his 
hands,  and  that  he  is  able  to  turn  the  most  blind  and  hardened 
to  himself,  "  as  the  rivers  of  waters  are  turned."  O,  it  is 
sweet  to  the  believing  heart,  to  lean  on  God ;  to  plead  his 
promises,  and  to  rejoice  in  the  assurance,  that,  though  man 
cannot  do  it,  by  reason  of  weakness.  He,  "  with  whom  all 
things  are  possible,"  and  who  "  cannot  lie,"  hath  promised 
that  the  whole  "  earth  shall  be  filled  with  his  glory  ;  "  and  that 
He  is  at  once  able  and  faithful  to  bring  it  to  pass. 

5.  Finally  ;  if  so  great  a  work  as  evangelizing  the 
WHOLE  WORLD,  is  promised,  and  is  certainly  to  be  accom- 
plished, then  our  plans  and  efforts  for  promoting  this  object 
ought  to  bear  a  corresponding  character  ;  that  is,  they  ought 
to  be  large,  liberal,  and  ever  expanding.  We  ought  to  con- 
sider it  as  our  duty  to  devote  to  this  object  our  utmost 
resources,  and  to  engage  the  co-operation  of  all,  over  whom 
we  can  exert  an  influence. 

The  promise  of  God  to  his  people  is,  "  Open  thy  mouth 
wide,  and  I  will  fill  it."  It  is  spoken  of  in  various  passages 
of  Scripture,  as  an  excellence  in  Christian  character,  that 
the  heart  be  enlarged;  —  that  is,  filled  wdth  large  affections, 
large  desires,  large  hopes,  and  large  confidence.  Never  were 
Scriptures  more  applicable  than  these  to  the  case  before  us. 
When  we  direct  our  attention  to  the  spread  of  the  Gospel, 
our  views,  our  prayers,  our  efforts,  are  all  too  stinted  and 
narrow.  We  scarcely  ever  lift  our  eyes  to  the  real  grandeur 
and  claims  of  the  enterprise  in  which  we  profess  to  be 
engaged.  We  are  too  apt  to  be  satisfied  with  small  and  occa- 
sional contributions  of  service  to  this  greatest  of  all  causes, 
instead  of  devoting  to  it  hearts  truly  enlarged  ;  instead  of 


160  THE    EARTH   FILLED    WITH 

desiring  great  things  ;  expecting  great  tilings  ;  praying  for 
great  things  ;  and  nurturing  in  our  spirits  that  holy  elevation 
of  sentiment  and  affection,  which  embraces  in  its  desires  and 
prayers  the  entire  kingdom  of  God ;  and  which  can  be  satis- 
fied with  nothing  short  of  the  "  whole  earth  being  filled  with 
the  glory  of  the  Lord." 

We  now  and  then  meet  with  a  professing  Christian  who 
really  does  seem  to  regard  the  kingdom  of  Christ  —  its 
enlargement  and  glory  —  as  the  greatest  interest  in  the  uni- 
verse ;  and  who  does  seem  to  desire  unfeignedly  to  consecrate 
all  that  he  has  and  is  to  promote  its  progress.  But,  Oh,  how 
small  is  the  number  of  those  who  manifest  this  spirit !  My 
dear  friends,  the  number  of  such  must  greatly  increase, 
before  the  church  at  large  can  be  expected  to  "  rise  from  the 
dust,  and  put  on  her  beautiful  garments."  The  whole  style 
of  Christian  character  —  if  I  may  be  allowed  the  expression 
—  must  become,  generally,  more  decided ;  more  active  ;  more 
unreservedly  devoted ;  —  more  abundant  and  fervent  in 
prayer ;  more  enlarged  and  liberal  in  the  system  of  giving  — 
far  more,  before  the  spread  of  the  Gospel  can  correspond 
with  the  divine  promises ;  before  it  is  possible  that  our  raised 
expectations  with  respect  to  the  conversion  of  the  world  can 
ever  be  realized.  Yes,  life  and  power  must  be  gi^eatly 
increased  within  the  church,  before  her  power  on  the  world 
can  be  widely  extended  and  triumphantly  glorious.  Profes- 
sing Christians  must  be  seen  to  be  really  in  earnest  in  their 
faith  and  hope,  before  they  can  be  expected  to  make  a  deep 
impression  on  the  impenitent  around  them.  We  often  come 
to  you,  Christian  brethren,  soliciting  your  pecuniary  aid,  in 
bearing  the  Gospel  and  its  heralds  to  the  ends  of  the  earth. 
And,  truly,  without  this  aid,  w^e  cannot  carry  on  our  benevo- 
lent operations  for  a  single  day.  But,  after  all,  we  are  much 
more  anxious  to  see  your  souls  swelling  with  holy  love,  and 
holy  zeal,  and  holy  activity ;  because  w^e  know  that  this  indi- 
cates more  deep  and  enlarged  spiritual  advancement ;  and 
because  it  is  a  pledge,  not  of  a  mere  fitful  gush  of  liberality ; 
but  of  a  perennial  stream  of  Christian  hounty,  flowing  from 
love  to  the  infinitely  precious  cause. 

This  character  was  once  much  more  common,  than  it  is  at 
the  present  day.  How  ought  we  at  once  to  be  humbled  and 
animated,  when  we  read  the  history  of  the  primitive  Christ- 
ians !  Many  of  them  literally  and  cheerfully  gave  up  all 
for  Christ.     Contemplate,  my  beloved  friends,  —  contemplate 


THE    GLORY    OF    THE    LORD.  161 

the  affecting  narrative  !  Ah  !  how  they  labored,  and  denied 
themselves,  and  made  sacrifices,  and  gave  their  substance  — 
sometimes  to  the  last  farthing  —  for  the  cause  of  Christ, 
See  them  "  counting  all  things  but  loss,"  and  even  cheerfully 
going  to  the  stake,  when  the  Saviour's  honor  required  it. 
Read  this  narrative,  professing  Christians,  and  then  say, 
whether  those  who  feel  reluctant  to  give  the  price  even  of  a 
few  luxurious  dinners  for  promoting  the  Redeemer's  kingdom, 
can  seriously  believe  that  they  are  actuated  by  the  same  spirit 
with  those  devoted  disciples  ? 

But  how  ought  we  to  be  still  more  deeply  humbled  and 
animated,  when  we  call  to  mind  what  our  blessed  Saviour  has 
done  for  us  !  I  have  sometimes  heard  professing  Christians 
talk  of  doing  and  giving  as  much  toward  the  spread  of  the 
glorious  Gospel,  "  as  they  conveniently  could."  Surely  this 
is  wonderful  language  for  the  professed  followers  of  a  cruci- 
fied Redeemer  !  Did  our  blessed  Master  do  no  more  for  us 
than  he  "  conveniently  could !  "  Did  He  not  give  his  life 
for  our  redemption  ?  Did  He  not,  in  offering  up  himself  a 
sacrifice,  that  we  might  not  die,  yield  himself  to  sufferings 
unparalleled  and  indescribable  ?  Shall  not  every  one,  then, 
who  calls  himself  by  the  name  of  Christ,  make  the  language 
of  Paul,  in  all  its  force  and  tenderness  his  own  ?  —  "  For  the 
love  of  Christ  constraineth  us ;  because  we  thus  judge,  that 
if  one  died  for  all,  then  were  all  dead ;  and  that  he  died  for 
all,  that  they  which  live,  should  not  henceforth  live  unto 
themselves,   but   unto   him  which  died   for   them  and   rose 


Lift  up  your  eyes.  Christian  brethren,  on  the  unnumbered 
millions  of  our  globe,  sunk  in  ignorance,  pollution  and  misery ! 
Think  of  their  condition  —  a  condition  in  which  you  must 
have  been  at  this  hour,  had  it  not  been  for  the  wonderful 
grace  of  God.  Contrast  with  that  condition  your  own  mer- 
cies and  privileges,  and  then  ask,  whether  you  ought  not  to 
feel  for  those  who  are  thus  miserable,  and  try  to  help  them  ? 
Christians !  can  you  enjoy  your  Bibles,  your  Sabbaths,  your 
sanctuaries,  your  sacramental  tables,  and  all  your  precious 
privileges  and  hopes  alone  ?  Can  you  enjoy  these  hallowed 
scenes  and  heavenly  gifts,  and  know  their  value,  and  yet 
slumber  in  ignoble  indolence  over  the  moral  desolations  of 
those  who  are  perishing  for  lack  of  them  ?-  Can  you  calmly 
sit  by,  and  see  million  after  million  of  treasure  cheerfully  ex- 
pended for  amusement,  luxury  and  sin,  and  only  a  few  stinted 
14* 


162  THE    EARTH    FILLED    WITH 

thousands  devoted  to  the  greatest,  best  work  of  enlightening^ 
and  saving  the  world  ?     O  whither  has  the  spirit  of  the  Bible  ^ 
fled  ?     May  He  who  gave  the  Bible,  and  the  promise  before 
us,  restore  it  in  His  time  ! 

Let  us  then,  with  one  accord,  rouse  ourselves,  and  endeavor 
to  rouse  others  to  new  zeal,  and  larger  enterprise  in  spreading 
the  knowledge  and  glorj  of  the  Lord.  Every  heart,  every 
tongue,  and  every  hand  that  can  be  stirred  up  to  engage  in 
this  great  work,  from  infancy  to  old  age,  is  needed.  And 
remember  that  the  more  thoroughly  any  of  the  children  of 
men  can  be  excited  and  consecrated  to  this  work,  the  richer 
the  benefit  they  gain  for  themselves.  Christian  brother! 
Christian  sister  !  whoever  you  are,  in  this  large  assembly !  — 
you  have  each,  respectively,  a  duty  to  perform  in  reference 
to  this  mighty  work.  It  is  incumbent  upon  you  to  do  all  in 
your  power  for  sending  the  light  of  life  to  the  benighted  and 
perishing.  Nay,  upon  every  human  being,  whether  in  the 
church  or  out  of  it,  there  lies  an  obligation  to  aid,  as  far  as 
God  gives  the  opportunity,  in  sending  to  "  every  creature  " 
that  gospel  which  is  "  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation  to 
every  one  that  believeth."  We  invite  you  all,  my  hearers, 
not  merely  to  the  duty,  but  to  the  precious  privilege,  of  coop- 
erating in  this  holy  and  blessed  enterprise.  And  we  can 
venture  to  assure  you,  that,  if  the  day  should  ever  come,  in 
which  your  heart  shall  be  thoroughly  imbued  with  the  spirit 
of  missions,  it  will  be  the  happiest  period  of  your  lives ;  as 
well  as  the  pledge  and  the  dawn  of  that  wide-spread  glory, 
which  our  text  proclaims  as  certain  and  approaching.  We 
can  point  you  to  no  higher  honor,  no  richer  pleasure  on  this 
side  of  heaven,  than  that  which  is  found  in  enlightened,  zeal- 
ous, active,  absorbing  zeal  for  spreading  the  holy,  life-giving 
religion  of  Jesus  Christ  from  the  rising  to  the  setting  sun. 

We  are  now  celebrating  the  twenty-sixth  anniversary  of  our 
Board ;  and,  instead  of  being  weary  of  our  work,  we  can  sin- 
cerely declare,  that  in  looking  back  on  o.ur  past  course,  our 
only  regret  is,  that  we  have  not  labored  with  far  more  dili- 
gence and  sanctified  ardor  in  the  cause  of  the  world's  conver- 
sion ;  that  our  plans  have  not  been  more  enlarged ;  and  that 
--ive  have  not  prayed  more  and  done  more  in  this  greatest  of 
all  causes  in  which  Christians  can  engage.  Yes,  brethren, 
beloved  of  the  Lord,  we  come  to  mingle  our  vows  with  yours, 
to  proclaim  with  deeper  conviction  than  ever,  that  we  consider 
the  cause  of  missions  as  the  most  precious  cause  in  the  world ; 


THE  GLORY  OF  THE  LORD.  163 

and  to  bind  ourselves  by  new  resolutions,  that  we  will,  by  the 
help  of  God,  with  greater  zeal  than  heretofore,  "  spend  and 
be  spent "  in  this  most  blessed  service.  What  more  worthy 
object  can  we  seek,  than  contributing  to  fill  the  earth  with  the 
glory  of  the  Lord  ?  Brethren,  pray  for  us,  that  we  may  be 
faithful  to  our  sacred  trust.  Pray  for  yourselves,  that  you 
may  not  be  found  wanting  in  the  payment  of  that  mighty  debt 
you  owe  to  your  Divine  Master  and  to  a  perishing  world. 
And  let  us  all,  more  and  more,  aspire  to  the  honor  of  being 
"  workers  together  with  God "  in  hastening  the  triumphs  of 
ImmanuePs  universal  reign.  Come^  Lord  Jesus,  come  quickly  ; 
and  let  the  whole  earth  he  filled  with  thy  glory  !  Amen  !  and 
Amen! 


INCREASE  OF  FAITH  NECESSARY  TO  THE 
SUCCESS  OF  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS. 


REV.    WILLIAM    R.    WILLIAMS,   D.    D. 

But  having  hope,  when  your  faith  is  increased,  that  we  shall  be  enlarged  by  you 

according  to  our  rule  abundantly,  to  preach  the  Gospel  in  the  regions  beyond  you. 
2  Corinthians  10 :  15, 16. 

The  language  of  the  Apostle  evidently  implies  a  gentle 
reprehension  of  the  Corinthian  church.  The  poverty  and 
imbecility  of  their  faith  embarrassed  him  in  his  ardent  aspira- 
tions after  more  extended  usefulness.  He  was  anxious  to 
enter  upon  a  new  field,  and  to  proclaim  the  Gospel  through- 
out other  and  more  destitute  regions.  But  he  must  await  in 
prayerful  hope  the  increase  of  their  faith,  and  at  their  hands 
expect  an  enlargement.  This  enlargement,  might  be,  on 
their  part,  an  advancement  and  confirmation  in  Christian  doc- 
trine, which  should  permit  him  to  transfer  the  charge  of  these, 
his  children  in  the  faith,  into  the  hands  of  less  skilful  pastors ; 
or  a  rapid  growth  in  Christian  holiness,  which  should  justify  the 
Apostle  in  presenting  them  as  his  epistle,  to  be  seen  and  read 
of  all  men,  attesting  alike  the  power  of  the  Gospel,  and  the 
reality  of  his  mission.  Or  he  might  desire  the  vindication  of 
his  own  apostolical  character,  which  had  been  cruelly  assailed 
in  their  midst,  and  ask  the  transmission  of  his  name,  with  its 
well-won  honors,  to  the  neighboring  heathen.  Or  it  had 
been,  perhaps,  his  hope,  from  their  liberality  and  wealth,  to 
have  received  aid  in  his  missionary  journeyings  ;  or  he  had 
anticipated  from  their  position  in  a  great  commercial  metrop- 
olis, assistance  in  their  sending  the  Gospel  to  other  havens 
and  cities  of  the  empire.  Whether  he  expected  from  their 
increased  and  matured  faith,  any  one,  or  the  union  of  all  these 
advantages,  and  whatever  be  the  decision  as  to  the  mode 
in   which    enlargement  was  sought  by  him,  one  fact  stands 


INCREASE    OF   FAITH,    ETC.  165 

forth  on  the  face  of  these  words,  manifest  and  unquestionable. 
He  was  now  fettered  in  his  plans  of  benevolence,  and  it  was 
from  the  Corinthian  disciples  that  he  expected  his  release. 
Either  from  their  confirmation  in  the  truths  he  preached,  or 
in  the  holiness  he  enjoined  and  exemplified ;  or  from  their 
assertion  of  his  just  honors  as  an  apostle ;  from  the  bestow- 
ment  of  their  free  alms,  or  the  employment  of  their  mercan- 
tile influence,  he  hoped  to  obtain  the  removal  of  the  restraint 
from  himself,  and  to  secure  for  their  pagan  neighbors  bless- 
ings untold  and  priceless.  The  fulfilment  of  his  hope  de- 
pended upon  their  progress  to  higher  attainments  in  faith. 
There  is  involved,  then,  in  these  words  of  an  inspired  and 
most  successful  missionary,  a  principle  which  we  would  now 
endeavor  to  bring  before  you,  that 

The  missionaries  of  the  church  require  at  her  hands,  for 
the  extension  and  success  of  their  efforts,  an  increase  of  faith. 

Looking  to  the  divisions  and  scandals  he  had  so  sternly 
rebuked,  and  to  the  peculiar  temptations  of  the  infant  church, 
which  had  been  gathered  amid  the  luxury,  gayety,  and  profli- 
gacy of  the  licentious  Corinth,  we  might  have  expected,  from 
one  versed  as  was  Paul  in  the  weakness  of  our  nature,  and  in 
the  wiles  of  its  great  adversary,  that  he  would  have  chosen 
to  specify,  instead  of  the  one  evil  of  unbelief,  other  and  nu- 
merous impediments  to  his  success.  And  using  the  term 
here  employed  by  him,  as  we  too  often  do,  to  describe  a 
knowledge  merely  speculative  and  theoretical,  we  should 
have  supposed  that  in  a  community  indoctrinated  by  the  per- 
sonal labors  of  an  apostle,  as  well  as  in  the  churches  of  our 
own  age  and  land,  the  deficiencies  of  Christians  were  to  be 
sought,  rather  in  their  works  of  obedience,  than  in  the  amount 
of  their  faith.  Yet  such  was  not  the  fact  then.  Such  is  not 
the  root  of  the  evil  now.  It  is  in  faith  that  we  are  wanting. 
The  elder  and  parent  grace  is  maimed  and  infirm,  and  the 
whole  family  and  sisterhood  of  the  Christian  virtues  languish 
at  she  decays,  and  can  be  reanimated  only  by  her  restoration. 
Having  considered,  therefore, 

I.  The  nature  and  importance  of  true  faith, 

II.  The  intimate  connexion  between  its  higher 
degrees  and  the  missionary  efforts  of  the  church 
will  naturally  follow  and  prepare  us  to  examine, 

ni.  The  DEFECTIVE  FAITH  OF  OUR  OVTN  CHURCHES,  AS 
INTERPOSING  A  HINDRANCE  TO  THE  TRIUMPHS  OF  THE 
GOSPEL    OVER   HEATHENISM. 


1^6  INCREASE    OF    FAITH   NECESSARY 

And  may  the  Father  of  lights,  by  His  own  Spirit  of  illu- 
mination and  power,  unfold  to  the  mind,  and  impress  upon 
the  heart,  the  humbling  but  the  salutary  truth  contained  in 
these  words.  # 

I.  The  importance  of  faith  may  be  discerned  from  the  dig- 
nity and  rank  assigned  it  throughout  the  New  Testament. 
In  the  commencement  and  at  the  close  of  our  Saviour's  min- 
istry ;  in  his  own  private  conference  with  the  anxious,  but 
irresolute  Nicodemus,  and  in  the  public  message  with  which 
his  apostles  were  charged,  as  he  sent  them  forth  to  the  evan- 
gelization of  the  world,  it  is  alike  represented  as  the  only 
mode  —  the  one  condition  of  salvation.  He  that  exercises  it 
is  not  condemned,  while  he  that  believeth  not  shall  be  damned. 
To  this  principle  is  ascribed  our  immunity  from  the  terrors 
of  the  law,  for  we  are  justified  by  faith.  As  a  shield,  it  re- 
pels the  fiery  darts  of  temptation  that  come  from  the  great 
adversary  of  God  and  man;  while  within,  it  purifies  the 
heart,  working  by  love  ;  and,  in  our  contest  with  the  ungodly 
precepts  and  example  of  our  fellow-men,  "  this  is  the  victory 
that  overcometh  the  world,  even  our  faith."  The  long  and 
glorious  list  of  its  strifes  and  its  trophies,  contained  in  the 
closing  portion  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  commences 
with  the  announcement  that  faith  is  the  substance  of  things 
hoped  for,  the  evidence  of  things  not  seen  ;  and  is  terminated 
with  the  triumphant  recapitulation  that  all  these,  the  worthies 
of  the  earlier  dispensations,  obtained  their  good  report  through 
the  same  simple,  but  mighty  principle  —  that  of  faith. 

And  although  the  world  are  accustomed  to  dispute  the 
necessity  of  this  principle,  when  exercised  respecting  the 
realities  of  a  world  as  yet  hidden  and  invisible,  they  are  per- 
petually employing  it  with  regard  to  the  visible  but  transient 
scenery  of  the  present  life.  Compelled  to  give  their  faith  to 
testimony  as  to  those  things  which  might  be  seen,  and  often 
giving  it  even  where  they  might  substitute  personal  observa- 
tion for  faith  in  the  evidence  of  others  ;  they  refuse  to  extend 
it  to  those  objects  which,  from  their  very  nature,  cannot  be- 
come the  subjects  of  immediate  vision  and  examination. 
Yielding  credence  to  the  testimony  of  their  fellow-mortals, 
though  the  witnesses  are  alike  fallible  and  perfidious,  they 
refuse  it  to  the  revelation  of  their  God.  Preferring  to  give 
it  where  it  is  often  not  required,  (did  they  choose  to  employ 
their  own  natural  faculties,)  they  withhold  it  where  it  is 
inevitably  necessary.     All  the  commerce  of  this  world  is  pre- 


TO    THE    SUCCESS    OF    CHRISTIAN   MISSIONS.  167 

dicated  on  the  faith  which  man  puts  in  the  skill,  integrity, 
and  diligence  of  his  fellow-man  ;  and  a  writing,  of  which  he 
never  saw  the  author,  shall  be  to  him  a  sufficient  warrant  for 
transmitting,  far  beyond  his  own  sight  and  control,  his  whole 
property.  By  the  exercise  of  a  just  and  sober  faith  in  the 
testimony  brought  into  her  halls,  the  national  jurisprudence 
administers  to  our  citizens  the  redress  of  their  wrongs,  and 
the  punishment  of  their  crimes.  The  learning  dispensed  in 
our  colleges  is,  by  the  mass  of  minds,  received  without  per- 
sonal examination,  upon  the  credit  given  to  the  ability  and 
honesty  of  previous  investigators.  And  all  education,  whether 
in  the  most  recondite  science,  or  in  the  most  humble  and 
handicraft  art,  proceeds  upon  the  faith  which  the  pupil  is 
required  to  exercise  in  the  superior  skill  of  his  instructor,  and 
in  the  value  of  the  knowledge  his  teacher  is  preparing  to 
communicate. 

It  is  only  by  the  confidence  they  have  learned  to  place  in 
the  narratives  of  the  traveller,  that  the  majority  of  society 
know  the  nature  and  extent  of  the  country,  of  which  they  are 
themselves  the  inhabitants  ;  or  that  they  can  form  any  idea 
of  the  great  and  magnificent  cities,  the  goodly  prospects,  and 
the  splendid  wonders  that  adorn  some  foreign  and  unseen 
coast.  And  with  regard  to  the  facts  which  we  have  thus 
gathered,  we  feel  no  suspicion,  but  use  them  as  the  current 
coin  of  the  mind,  both  in  our  private  meditations  and  our 
social  intercourse,  without  fear  as  to  their  genuineness  and 
validity.  Even  the  skeptic,  loud  and  boisterous  in  his  rejec- 
tion of  all  faith,  as  being  an  invasion  of  the  province,  and  but 
an  usurpation  upon  the  rights  of  human  reason,  is  most  rigid 
and  constant  in  exacting  from  his  trembling  child  an  obedi- 
ence to  his  will,  and  a  subjection  to  his  opinions,  which  can 
rest  only  upon  the  faith,  the  tacit  but  implicit  faith,  which  he 
requires  his  family  to  exercise  in  his  superior  wisdom  and 
larger  experience. 

And  if  it  be  objected,  that  the  faith  of  the  gospel  differs 
widely  from  that  which  we  so  readily  and  commonly  render, 
in  that  it  brings  to  our  minds  deep  and  difficult  mysteries,  we 
answer  that  it  would  be  less  evidently  the  work  of  God,  if  it 
did  not  come,  contradicting  the  first  and  rasher  conclusions  of 
human  ignorance.  It  would  be  a  departure  from  the  analogy 
which  exists  among  all  the  works  of  our  God,  did  it  only  re- 
veal what  man  had  previously  conjectured,  and  were  Faith 
employed  merely  to  endorse  and  register,  in  silent  acquies- 


168  INCREASE    OF   FAITH   NECESSARY 

cence,  the  rescripts  which  had  been  prepared  for  her  by 
human  reason.  And  even  in  the  sciences  of  this  world,  nar- 
row and  near  as  is  the  field  of  their  labors,  there  are  the  same 
inscrutable  yet  inevitable  difficulties,  of  which  the  sceptic 
complains  in  religion.  We  expect  it  of  a  cultivated  and  ad- 
vanced science,  that  it  should  assail  and  overturn  many  opin- 
ions, which  to  the  first  glance  of  ignorant  presumption  seem 
indisputable  truths.  Contradicting  the  first  and  incomplete 
testimony  of  our  senses  and  the  general  impressions  of  man- 
kind. Geography  comes  back  from  her  voyages  of  discovery 
with  the  annunciation  that  the  earth  is  not  an  extended  plain, 
but  one  vast  sphere.  And  though  the  eye  sees  no  motion, 
and  the  foot  feels  no  unsteadiness,  and  no  jarring  is  perceived 
within  or  around  us.  Astronomy  comes  back  to  the  inquirer 
with  the  startling  assurance,  that,  notwithstanding  all  these 
seeming  evidences  to  the  contrary,  the  earth  on  which  he 
reposes  is  ceaselessly  and  most  rapidly  whirling  along  its 
trackless  path  in  the  heavens ;  and  that,  moment  by  moment, 
he  is  borne  along  through  the  fields  of  space  with  a  fearful 
and  inconceivable  velocity.  And  when,  from  further  wan- 
derings, but  on  better  testimony,  —  when  from  a  higher  and 
stranger  world,  but  with  fuller  evidence  and  with  more  indu- 
bitable tokens  of  her  veracity.  Faith  comes  back,  bringing 
assurances  that  tally  not  in  all  things  with  our  preconceived 
conjectures,  shall  she  be  chidden  and  blasphemed  for  the  diffi- 
culties that  arise  from  our  own  ignorance?  Without  the 
mysteries  of  the  Gospel,  revelation  would  be  unlike  all  the 
other  provinces  of  human  knowledge,  and  the  domains  of 
Faith  would  be  dissimilar  from  all  the  rest  of  the  handiwork 
of  God. 

But  although  the  importance  of  faith  is  thus  apparent  from 
the  rank  assigned  it  in  the  scriptures,  and  from  its  necessity 
even  in  the  petty  concernments  of  this  present  life,  we  shall 
learn  to  appreciate  true  belief  yet  more  highly,  when  we  see 
mankind,  by  a  heedless  but  perpetual  infatuation,  allowing 
themselves  in  errors  the  most  absurd  and  dangerous,  with  re- 
gard to  its  character  and  claims.  By  some  it  is  confounded 
with  a  blind  and  irrational  credulity,  although  evangelical 
faith  is  based  only  on  evidence  the  most  satisfactory  and  suffi- 
cient ;  and  although  the  book  of  God,  when  demanding  our 
credence,  proffers  to  the  inquirer  testimony,  not  merely  abun- 
dant, but  overwhelming,  as  to  the  nature  of  its  authorship. 
It  is  as  adverse  to  the  character  of  scriptural  faith  to  believe 


TO    THE    SUCCESS    OF    CHRISTIAN   MISSIONS.  169 

without  a  divine  warrant,  upon  authority  that  is  merely  tra- 
ditionary and  human,  as  to  refuse  the  assent  of  the  soul 
where  God  has  spoken.  True  Faith  is  not  more  allied  to 
superstition  than  she  is  to  skepticism ;  and,  determined  as  he 
is  to  believe  all  that  God  has  testified,  the  Christian,  wherev- 
er the  oracle  is  silent,  suspends  his  decision,  and  anxiously 
excludes  from  his  creed  all  the  inventions  of  man,  whether 
they  come  from  the  school,  the  synod,  or  the  council. 

Others  delight  to  speak  of  faith  in  the  religion  of  our  Lord, 
as  if  it  were  but  an  opinion,  and  the  religion  it  embraces  but 
a  hypothesis,  of  little  practical  moment  or  influence ;  while, 
on  the  contrary,  the  faith  of  the  Gospel  is  as  rigid  and  exper- 
imental in  its  character  as  the  strictest  science  of  the  schools. 
It  makes  no  arbitrary  assumptions,  rests  on  no  disputed  axi- 
oms, but,  upon  the  foundation  of  facts  of  the  most  impressive 
and  varied  character,  it  builds  up,  patiently  and  surely,  its 
doctrines  and  its  precepts  ;  invites  the  most  searching  scrutiny 
into  the  testimonials  which  it  adduces ;  and  having  by  them 
established  its  first  principles,  gives  not  only  for  its  funda- 
mental axioms,  but  for  its  every  inference,  and  for  each  sub- 
sequent deduction,  the  word  of  a  God.  As  well  might  we 
call  arithmetic  or  history  a  mere  theory,  as  to  apply  that  title 
to  the  religion  which  is  embraced  by  our  faith.  Do  the  self- 
satisfied  philosophers  of  this  world  tell  us  of  the  necessity  of 
facts  ?  We  answer,  the  incarnation,  the  personal  character, 
the  crucifixion  and  resurrection  of  the  Saviour,  are  facts  most 
fully  proved,  and  standing  alone,  would  be  in  themselves 
sufficient  to  prove  the  divinity  of  the  revelation  that  is  en- 
twined about  them,  and  of  which  they  constitute  the  central 
supports,  the  chief  and  favorite  theme.  And  every  convert, 
ransomed  by  the  power  of  this  faith  from  the  tyranny  of  evil 
habits,  affords  in  himself  a  new  fact,  augmenting  the  mass  of 
her  evidences,  and  swelling  her  far-spreading  and  splendid 
"  cloud  of  witnesses." 

Nor  are  those  men  safer  or  wiser  than  the  undisguised 
scoffer,  who,  professing  to  receive  the  religion  of  the  Bible, 
flatter  themselves  that  a  mere  assent  of  the  understanding  to 
the  historical  portions  of  the  record,  constitutes  that  faith 
which  shall  justify  at  the  bar,  and  admit  them  to  the  heaven 
of  Jehovah.  The  Bible  is  to  be  regarded  as  a  whole,  and 
as  such  is  to  be  received  and  obeyed.  The  Gospel  is  a  code 
of  laws,  no  less  than  a  volume  of  annals.  It  has  not  only 
narratives,  but  precepts,  and  asks  the  consent  of  the  whole 
15 


170  INCREASE    OF   FAITH   NECESSARY 

man,  and  his  entire  soul,  to  its  undivided  and  unmutilated  con- 
tents. And  as  that  man  could  not  maintain  his  arrogant  pre- 
tensions, who  should  claim  the  honors  of  devoted  patriotism 
merely  because  he  had  studied  intently  the  annals  of  his 
country's  history,  whilst  he  was  trampling  upon  her  laws,  and 
imprinting  every  leaf  of  her  statute-book  with  the  hoof  of 
swinish  indulgence,  thus  must  the  man  fail  of  sustaining  his 
claim  to  the  character  of  Christ's  disciple,  w^ho,  professing  to 
credit  and  revere  his  record,  treads  down  into  the  mire  his 
laws,  and  has  but  the  faith  of  historical  assent  for  the  narra- 
tive, without  the  faith  of  love  for  the  precepts,  and  the  faith 
of  affectionate  conformity  for  the  character  of  the  Saviour. 
The  Bible  contains  not  only  the  story  of  our  creation,  ruin, 
and  recovery,  but  it  includes  as  well  the  indictment  of  our 
crimes,  and  the  proclamation  of  our  pardon  ;  and  there  is  no 
true  reception  of  the  history,  unless  there  be  also,  personally, 
the  humble  confession  of  the  imputed  guiltiness,  and  the 
grateful  pleading  of  the  proffered  discharge. 

Equally  erroneous,  and  chargeable  with  a  kindred  folly,  is 
the  man,  who,  passing  beyond  the  vain  figment  of  a  faith 
merely  historical,  professes  to  receive  the  whole  system  of 
revelation,  in  its  doctrinal,  no  less  than  its  narrative  portions, 
and  triumphing  in  the  orthodoxy  of  his  tenets,  seems  anxious 
to  shelter  himself  from  the  practical  influence  of  faith,  by 
pleading  the  freeness  of  the  salvation  it  brings.  The  whole 
necessity  of  salvation  grew  out  of  the  practical  depravity  of 
man's  nature,  and  the  whole  errand  of  the  Bible  was  but  the 
restoration  of  practical  holiness.  For  this  end  prophets  and 
apostles  wrote ;  for  this  it  was  that  a  Saviour  descended  and 
bled  —  rose,  and  reigns,  to  furnish,  to  bestow,  and  to  fulfil  that 
Bible.  And  until  this  effect  be  wrought,  nothing  is  gained, 
and  if  this  be  refused,  the  very  object  and  intention  of  the 
religion  is  rejected.  It  is  surely  vain  toil  to  implant  in  the 
mind  a  faith,  the  vital  germ  of  which  is  carefully  removed,  a 
dead  root,  which  shall  never  send  forth  the  springing  leaf,  or 
bear  the  ripened  fruit. 

An  error  now  popular,  and  not  less  fatal,  is  one  which  the 
skeptic  has  borrowed  from  the  armory  and  champions  of  the 
truth.  It  consists  in  a  perversion  of  the  great  scriptural  truth, 
that  it  is  God  who  worketh  in  us  to  will  and  to  do,  and  that 
all  our  thoughts  are  under  his  control.  Using  the  theological 
labors  of  Edwards  for  a  purpose,  which  that  holy  and  master 
mind  never  intended,  the  advocates  of  this  dangerous  error 


TO    THE    SUCCESS    OF    CHRISTIAN   MISSIONS.  171 

contend  that  our  belief  is  beyond  our  control,  that  faith  is  not 
voluntary,  and  unbelief  is  therefore  not  criminal :  forgetting, 
that,  though  a  gift  of  God,  faith  is  withal  an  act  or  habit  of 
the  human  mind ;  that,  like  every  other  virtue,  it  is  on  the 
one  hand,  a  boon  of  heaven,  and  on  the  other,  the  exercise  of 
unfettered  human  agency  —  that  it  is  the  natural  result  of 
evidence  duly  and  impartially  considered,  and  that  no  man 
can  be  guiltless  who  wilfully  turns  away  from  the  contempla- 
tion of  that  evidence.  The  religion  of  God  asks  but  a  verdict 
according  to  the  w^eight  of  proof  which  she  brings.  To  pre- 
vent the  admission  of  that  evidence,  or  wdlfully  to  pronounce 
a  decision  against  its  weighty  and  sufficient  testimony,  would 
not  be  deemed  guiltless  in  any  cause  that  should  be  brought 
before  an  earthly  tribunal;  nor  shall  it  be  held  a  venial 
offence  at  the  bar,  and  by  the  laws  of  an  insulted  Deity. 

From  the  errors  which  human  perverseness  has  invented 
to  obscure  the  character  of  faith,  we  turn  to  review  its  true 
nature  and  office.  It  is  most  simple,  as  much  so  as  the  confi- 
dence of  a  prattling  child  in  his  father's  kindness  and  wis- 
dom ;  yet  at  the  same  time  as  expansive  in  its  views,  as  the 
loftiest  science  that  ever  tasked  the  powers  of  a  created  intel- 
lect. It  is  but  a  hearty  assent  to  the  whole  testimony  of  God 
—  a  submission  of  the  entire  soul,  not  of  the  intellect  only, 
but  also  of  the  affections  and  the  imagination,  to  the  testimony 
of  God ;  whether  that  testimony  be  employed  in  prescribing 
a  duty,  or  in  establishing  a  privilege.  It  is  the  acknowledg- 
ment of  human  ignorance,  united  with  the  profession  of  confi- 
dence in  Divine  wisdom,  and  of  subjection  to  Divine  authority. 
Making  no  reservations,  prescribing  no  terms  of  limitation, 
claiming  no  power  of  revoking  or  abridging  its  grant,  it  is  a 
surrender  of  the  intelligent  spirit  to  the  word  of  God  as  its 
rule  and  its  stay  ;  in  conformity  to  it  as  the  one  standard  of 
human  conduct,  and  in  dependence  upon  it  as  the  only  fitting 
nutriment  of  the  spiritual  life.  It  thus  restores  again  the 
communication  which  at  the  fall  was  severed.  In  his  temp- 
tation Satan  persuaded  our  parents  to  discredit  the  testimony 
of  God ;  and  the  consequent  interruption  of  faith  was  the 
hewing  away  of  that  channel,  through  which  they  had  here- 
tofore received  from  their  God  knowledge,  truth,  and  love. 
The  human  mind  became  at  once  an  exhausted  and  rifted 
reservoir,  "  a  broken  cistern,"  into  Avhich  no  longer  welled 
the  outgushing  streams  from  ''  the  Fountain  of  living  waters." 
By  faith  the  communion  is  restored,  and  man  is  again  the 
dependant  and  pupil  of  his  God. 


172  INCREASE    OF   FAITH   NECESSARY 

It  is  his  natural  and  rightful  state,  not  for  this  life  only,  but 
forever.  The  apostle,  when  enumerating  the  graces  that 
abide,  has  spoken  of  faith  as  if  it  too  continued.  Indeed,  the 
very  nature  of  a  created  and  limited  intelligence,  involves  the 
necessity  of  continued  faith.  Long  as  we  are  not  omnipres- 
ent, and  cannot  perceive  with  our  own  eyes  what  is  every 
where  transacted  —  long  as  we  are  not  omniscient,  and  there 
are  portions  of  knowledge,  which  we  have  not  yet  acquired  — 
long  as  man  is  not  invested  with  the  attributes  of  the  Deity, 
so  long  must  we  depend  upon  His  testimony  for  the  truth  of 
that  which  He  has  seen  and  we  have  not  seen  ;  so  long  must 
we  learn  from  Him  the  nature  of  that  which  He  has  known, 
but  which  we  may  know  only  from  his  words.  The  perfec- 
tion of  the  heavenly  world  does  not  imply  illimitable  knowl- 
edge, either  as  to  the  present  or  the  future ;  and  as  to  all 
those  portions  of  God's  ways,  which  thus  remain  concealed 
from  our  personal  examination,  the  spirits  of  just  men  made 
perfect,  will,  with  their  first-born  brethren,  the  angels  that 
have  kept  their  original  estate,  remain  the  pensioners  of 
faith,  dependent  upon  the  declarations  of  God  for  continual 
instruction. 

And  how  glorious  are  the  objects  which  faith  brings  into 
the  mind  of  man,  even  during  his  sojourn  here.  He  learns 
from  her  the  secret  of  his  own  misery  and  guiltiness,  and  its 
remedy.  He  is  told  of  a  law  condemning  irrevocably  for  the 
first  offence,  yet  now  fully  satisfied  for  his  hourly  infraction 
of  its  precepts  —  a  Saviour  divine  to  redeem  and  human  to 
compassionate  —  a  salvation  not  of  his  own  procurement  — 
the  Spirit  of  God  descended  to  be  his  teacher  and  consoler — 
troubles  sanctified  —  snares  broken  —  and  an  eternity  of 
purity  and  blessedness  made  his  certain  inheritance ;  and  are 
not  these  truths  of  surpassing  splendor  and  inestimable  worth  ? 
They  enter  into  the  soul,  not  so  much  destroying  as  be-dwarf- 
ing  its  former  ideas,  and  the  original  furniture  of  the  mind, 
which  it  has  obtained  from  the  knowledge  and  literature  of 
this  world.  Faith  has  suddenly  widened  the  mental  horizon, 
letting  in  the  vision  of  realities  before  present,  but  hitherto 
unseen.  Or  rather,  as  has  been  beautifully  said,  it  is  the 
floating  into  view  of  another  and  a  lovelier  world,  with  its 
glories  and  its  harmony  drowning  the  din  and  beclouding  the 
splendor  of  these  terrestrial  scenes. 

The  believer  judges  by  a  new  standard ;  sees  by  a  new  and 
heaven-descended  light ;  and  lo,  in  the  change,  "  all  things 


TO    THE    SUCCESS    OF    CHRISTIAN    MISSIONS.  173 

have  become  new."  And  though  the  men  of  this  world  may 
question  and  deride  the  renovation,  because  the  man's  earthly 
condition,  and  the  powers  of  his  mind  remain  apparently  the 
same  ;  it  is  evident  to  those  who  will  reason,  that  the  man  is 
essentially  renewed  ;  for  his  views,  his  feelings,  his  hopes 
and  fears,  his  prospects  and  his  purposes,  his  conduct  and  lan- 
guage, have  undergone  a  marked  and  strange  modification. 
True  it  is,  the  man's  garb  is  still  coarse,  and  his  person  un- 
gainly, and  his  mind  is  not  graced  with  the  refinements  and 
adornments  of  education ;  but  the  change  is  as  yet  merely 
initial.  Death  and  the  resurrection  shall  consummate  it. 
And  even  already  the  internal  process  is  to  his  own  mind 
alike  evident  and  delightful ;  and  with  tears  of  gratitude  he 
receives  it  as  the  earnest  of  that  thorough  renovation,  which 
shall  transform  him,  body,  soul,  and  spirit,  into  the  likeness 
of  his  Lord.  Thus  might  we  imagine  an  aged  and  lonely 
cottager,  musing  at  nightfall  in  his  desolate  home,  upon  the 
partner  of  his  bosom,  now  tenanting  the  grave,  and  his  chil- 
dren, who  have  long  since  wandered  from  his  hearth  to  a 
distant  land,  and  are  there  regardless  or  ignorant  of  the  sor- 
rows with  which  his  declining  years  are  darkened.  And  as 
he  cowers  over  his  scanty  fire,  the  unbidden  tear  will  fall,  and 
his  heart  is  full  of  the  bitterness  of  despair.  But  enter  with 
the  unexpected  tidings  that  his  children  live  ;  that,  prospered 
and  wealthy,  they  are  yet  affectionate ;  that  their  hearts  still 
yearn  towards  their  early  home  and  the  parent  who  holds  it ; 
that  they  are  even  now  on  their  way  to  soothe  and  gladden  his 
few  remaining  days :  and  although  you  have  made  no  imme- 
diate change  in  the  man's  lot  —  although  the  hovel  is  yet 
dark  and  cold,  and  the  embers  emit  but  the  same  dull  and 
saddening  light ;  the  whole  scene  is  changed  to  his  eyes,  and 
instead  of  its  former  desolateness,  it  has  become  radiant  with 
the  lustre  of  his  new-found  happiness.  A  new  element  is 
poured  into  his  mind,  and  the  faith  of  your  message  has 
changed  his  whole  soul.  Is  there  no  reality,  no  enjoyment  in 
this  translation  from  despondency  to  hope,  from  comfortless 
and  unpitied  helplessness  to  the  glad  expectation  of  attached 
and  watchful  children  ?  Yes ;  let  his  lot  remain  long  but 
what  it  had  been,  he  feels,  and  you  cannot  but  feel,  that  the 
credence  given  to  your  tidings  has  renewed  his  youth  within 
him,  and  thrown  a  new  coloring  over  the  whole  scene  of 
squalid  poverty  that  surrounds  him.  And,  if  you  deny  not 
the  reality  of  the  happiness  because  of  the  absence  or  present 
15* 


174  INCREASE    OF   FAITH   NECESSARY 

delay  of  any  outward  change,  should  you  dispute  the  reality 
of  the  believer's  peace,  because  as  yet  he  is  but  the  expec- 
tant heir,  and  not  the  joyous  possessor,  of  a  heavenly 
mansion  ? 

Of  a  principle  thus  efficient  and  delightful,  what  shall 
secure  the  preservation  and  increase  ?  Divine  truth  is  its 
aliment,  and  the  Holy  Spirit  its  author  and  upholder.  In  the 
language  of  scripture  it  will  be  observed  that  the  term  faith, 
(as  in  the  instance  of  the  exhortation  to  contend  earnestly  for 
it,  as  it  was  once  delivered  to  the  saints,)  is  employed  not 
only  in  the  sense  above  given,  but  also  to  describe  a  system 
of  doctrines ;  but  it  is  as  the  food  of  that  spiritual  principle 
which  we  have  endeavored  to  describe.  And  as  the  principle 
of  life,  and  the  mode  or  means  by  which  it  is  sustained,  may 
be,  and,  in  common  speech,  often  are  confounded ;  so  is  the 
same  word  used  in  the  New  Testament  to  signify  both  the 
truth  received,  and  the  temper  or  habit  of  mind  receiving  it. 
But  the  two  dissimilar  ideas  are  not  to  be  blended ;  nor  are 
we  to  suppose  that  the  form  of  sound  doctrine  will  necessarily 
insure  a  living  faith  in  the  heart.  The  experiment,  often 
and  anxiously  repeated,  has  ever  failed.  Creeds  and  confes- 
sions have  been  adjusted  and  balanced  with  the  utmost  nicety 
of  discrimination,  and  with  the  greatest  precision  of  language. 
But  in  the  church  at  Geneva,  planted  and  watered  by  the 
cares  of  Calvin  and  Beza,  and  in  the  English  Presbyterians, 
the  descendants  of  the  holy  non-conformists,  it  has  been  but 
too  fully  proved,  that  correct  symbols  of  faith  may  be  inherit- 
ed from  a  pious  ancestry  and  for  a  time  be  retained  with 
great  reverence,  but  without  any  portion  of  the  indwelling 
spirit  which  once  framed  and  pervaded  them.  Indeed,  in  the 
history  of  Protestant  Germany,  it  has  been  found  that  the 
fallen  and  corrupted  fragments  of  a  traditionary  "form  of 
sound  words,"  have  been  most  prolific  in  the  production  of 
heresies,  alike  strange  and  revolting.  The  fat  and  heavy  soil 
of  an  inert  and  "  dead  orthodoxy,"  was  to  that  national  church 
the  hot-bed  of  skepticism,  nurturing  errors  of  the  rankest 
growth,  and  the  most  deadly  nature.  The  stubble,  which  had 
well  sustained  the  former  and  the  proper  harvest,  but  served 
to  enrich  the  field  for  an  after  growth  of  weeds  the  most  nox- 
ious and  luxuriant.  However  useful  in  its  place,  (and,  pro- 
perly employed,  its  usefulness  is  great,)  the  most  correct  and 
scriptural  creed  is  but  the  outward  and  inanimate  portraiture  of 
an  inward  and  living  faith ;  and  it  is  as  idle  to  expect  that  con- 


TO    THE    SUCCESS    OF    CHRISTIAN    MISSIONS.  175 

fessions  and  symbols,  alone  and  unaided,  should  create  faith, 
as  to  imagine  that  a  definition  of  honesty  and  benevolence, 
rigid  and  accurate,  should  of  itself  be  sufficient  to  reform  the 
inmates  of  our  prisons. 

"  Leviatliaii  is  not  so  tamed." 

It  is  not  with  such  weapons  that  the  enemy  is  to  be  van- 
quished, or  a  living  faith  perpetuated  from  age  to  age.  The 
affections,  no  less  than  the  intellect,  must  be  reached  and 
won.  The  continual  interposition  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  the 
renevred  and  personal  application  of  truth  to  the  human  con- 
science, are  requisite  to  attain  the  end.  And  it  is  only  from 
a  personal  faith,  in  all  her  members,  thus  produced  —  thus 
fostered  —  and  continually  increasing,  that  the  church  can 
expect  prosperity.  It  is  thus  that  she  is  to  be  prepared  for 
conflict  with  her  internal  foes,  and  for  the  subjugation  of  new 
territories  to  the  obedience  of  the  cross.  From  a  faith  thus 
established  and  made  general,  what  may  not  be  hoped  — 
what  conquest  shall  seem  too  arduous,  and  -what  peril  too 
fearful  ? 

We  have  seen  the  dignity  of  faith  and  its  simplicity ;  the 
errors  which  misrepresent  and  assail  it ;  its  nature  ;  the  mag- 
nificence of  its  effects;  its  necessity  and  eternity;  and  the 
mode  of  its  preservation.     It  remains  now  to  examme, 

II.  The  intimate  connexion  existing  betw^een  this 

FAITH  AND  THE  MISSIONARY  EFFORTS  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

Having  observed  that  this  principle  is  the  source  of  know- 
ledge, and  the  parent  of  motives  and-  feelings  to  the  Chris- 
tian, it  is  at  once  evident  that  the  largeness  or  the  narrow- 
ness of  the  knowledge  thus  gained,  the  weakness  or  the 
strength  of  the  feelings  thus  excited,  and  of  the  motives 
which  are  in  this  mode  implanted,  will  constantly  affect  the 
character  of  all  the  Christian's  doings,  but  especially  those 
which  depend  most  upon  faith  for  their  inception  and  comple- 
tion —  his  doings  in  behalf  of  his  impenitent  fellow-men. 

Upon  the  enterprises  of  the  church,  it  is  immediately  ap- 
parent, whether  the  faith  of  the  believers  who  compose  that 
body  is  in  a  state  of  feebleness  and  declension,  or  of  energy 
and  growth.  He  who  looks  much  to  the  parting  command- 
ment of  his  Lord  for  the  universal  proclamation  of  his  truth, 
and  much  to  the  repeated  assurance  of  his  Lord  that  his  truth 
shall  prove  itself  mighty,  and  his  word  not  return  void,  will 


176  INCREASE    OF   FAITH   NECESSARY 

be  prepared  to  hope  and  to  attempt  much,  in  obedience  to  the 
commandment  and  in  inheritance  of  the  promise.  He,  on  the 
contrary,  who  sees  eternity  but  indistinctly,  seldom  and  afar^- 
and  whose  faith  takes  but  short  and  occasional  flights  into  the 
enduring  world  of  realities  that  surrounds  us,  will  be  prone  to 
exhibit  in  his  plans  timidity  and  despondency,  in  his  efforts 
remissness  and  apathy.  And  if  we  look  to  the  period  when 
the  limits  of  the  church  were  most  rapidly  and  widely  ex- 
tended, it  will  be  found  not  the  era  when  the  worldly  power, 
the  learning  and  the  wealth  of  the  church  were  at  their  high- 
est elevation,  but  in  the  age  when,  though  lacking  all  these, 
by  the  energy  of  an  overmastering  faith,  she  rose  superior  to 
every  impediment,  and  destitute  of  all  earthly  aid  and  en- 
couragement, dared  to  hope  in  God.  Wise  in  His  wisdom, 
and  strong  in  His  might,  she  devised  her  plans  of  conquest 
upon  the  broad  and  magnificent  basis  of  the  Saviour's  prom- 
ises, and  then,  in  humility,  diligence,  and  simple  devotion, 
called  upon  the  Saviour's  faithfulness  to  accomplish  the  plans 
Plis  own  word  had  warranted,  and  His  own  Spirit  incited. 
And  in  most  of  the  great  revivals  of  faith  and  godliness  in  the 
modern  church,  it  will  be  discovered  that  the  rising  flood  of 
religious  feeling  has  opened  anew,  or  found  and  followed  the 
already  open  channel  of  missionary  enterprise.  The  revival 
of  religion  granted  to  the  early  labors  of  the  Puritan  fathers 
in  New  England,  saw  also  the  rise  of  Eliot  and  the  May- 
hews,  the  first  evangelists  of  our  Indians.  The  energetic 
faith  of  Wesley  sought  for  its  first  field  a  mission  to  the  sav- 
ages of  our  southern  coast.  The  era  of  Edwards,  when  the 
faith  and  love  of  the  church  received  so  wide  and  mighty  an 
excitement,  was  also  the  era  of  Brainerd,  his  friend  and  dis- 
ciple, a  missionary  of  the  rarest  endowments.  The  revival  of 
faith  in  Protestant  Germany  under  Francke,  Spener,  and 
the  Pietists,  founded  the  Orphan  House  at  Halle,  and  saw  go 
forth  from  its  wills  Swartz  and  others,  his  associates,  to  labor 
amid  the  heathenism  of  India.  The  accession  of  strength  to 
the  faith  of  the  Moravian  brethren,  by  the  labors  of  Zinzen- 
dorf,  soon  found  an  outlet  in  missionary  enterprises  of  apos- 
tolical simplicity  and  successfulness.  The  established  church 
of  England,  in  her  recent  return  to  the  faith  of  her  early 
founders,  has  also  been  aroused  to  the  cause  of  missions,  and 
already  rejoices  in  the  record  of  her  Heber,  her  Buchanan, 
and  her  Martyn.  And  in  our  own  division  of  the  Christian 
host,  the  energetic  labors  of  the  elder  Hall,  Fuller,  and  the 


TO    THE    SUCCESS    OP    CHRISTIAN   MISSIONS.  177 

younger  Ryland,  to  restore  to  the  faith  of  our  churches  its 
proper  and  practical  character,  were  soon  followed  by  the 
establishment  of  those  missions,  which  have  given,  as  we 
trust,  an  impulse  to  the  energies  of  the  church  that  shall  go 
on,  with  greater  extension  and  deepening  intensity,  until  the 
time  of  the  Messiah's  second  advent. 

The  same  increased  faith  which  excites  the  enterprise, 
serves  withal  to  multiply  the  resources  of  the  church  for  the 
successful  development  and  prosecution  of  the  plans  she  has 
formed.  Consecration  to  God  of  our  hearts  and  our  sub- 
stance will  produce  a  liberality  which  would,  to  a  lukewarm 
age,  seem  fanatical  and  extravagant.  Living  as  in  the  con- 
stant view  of  the  last  judgment ;  estranged  from  the  world, 
and  thus  exempted  from  the  various  and  costly  sacrifices  it 
requires  to  fashion,  to  pride,  and  to  luxury ;  the  conscien- 
tious frugality  of  the  church  would  enable  the  poorest  and  the 
richest  members  to  unite  in  habitual  contribution.  A  simple- 
hearted  faith  would  banish  also  from  the  confines  of  the  church 
that  pretended  spirituality  which  anxiously  excludes  religion 
from  the  scenes  of  business,  and  shuts  her  out  from  all  inter- 
ference with  pecuniary  matters,  under  the  pretext  of  guard- 
ing her  sanctity,  but  in  truth  for  the  protection  of  a  hidden 
covetousness.  In  the  better  and  happier  era  of  her  history  it 
is  found  that  religion  is  a  familiar  and  every-day  guest,  visit- 
ing not  the  chamber  of-  social  or  secret  prayer  and  the  sanc- 
tuary only,  but  passing  through  all  the  scenes  of  human 
industry,  and  shedding  over  every  occupation  her  mild  and 
hallowing  influence.  Systematic  contribution  to  every  fbrm 
of  religious  benevolence,  will  then  be  regarded  as  a  necessary 
mark  of  true  piety.  But  the  chief  treasures  of  the  church 
are  not  her  stores  of  silver  and  gold,  but  her  living  members, 
with  their  spiritual  endowments  of  varied  character  and 
grades.  And  how  greatly  would  a  revival  of  primitive  faith 
draw  upon  these  her  spiritual  resources,  for  the  supply  of  the 
perishing  heathen.  The  missionary  cause  would  not  be  con- 
sidered as  making  well  nigh  its  exclusive  appeal  to  ministers 
of  the  church ;  but  the  merchant,  the  artisan,  and  the  farmer, 
each  anxious  to  give  himself  to  the  Lord's  service,  would 
present  not  a  stinted  tithe  of  his  earnings,  but  himself,  his  per- 
sonal labors,  and  his  life,  as  an  offering  to  the  great  work  of 
evangelizing  the  heathen. 

How  evident  and  vast  the  increase  of  missionary  power 
given  to  the  church,  in  the  influence  of  a  purer  and  simpler 


178  INCREASE    OF   FAITH   NECESSARY 

faith  upon  her  doctrines.  We  have  viewed  incidentally  the 
errors  that  usurp  the  name  of  Christian  faith.  When  these 
should  have  been  outgrown  and  superseded  by  a  true  and 
hearty  acceptance  of  God's  whole  testimony,  how  immense 
the  amount  of  moral  power  thrown  into  benevolent  action. 
Again,  even  Avhere  true  faith  exists,  it  is  now  embarrassed  in  ■ 
its  operations  by  its  union  with  more  or  less  of  error.  Every  ! 
admixture  of  human  tradition,  and  each  addition  of  extra- 
neous and  irrelevant  authority,  has  served  but  to  disfigure  and 
weaken  the  truth  it  was  intended  to  adorn.  When  these 
cumbrous  appendages  shall  be  relinquished,  and  the  oracles 
of  truth  shall  be  consulted  more  habitually  in  prayer  for  the 
teachings  of  the  Spirit,  what  may  not  be  hoped  from  the 
blessing  of  that  God  who  is  jealous  for  the  ifenor  of  His  own 
word?  What  may  not  be  hoped  from  the  temper  and  edge 
of  the  sword  of  the  Spirit,  when  it  shall  have  been  disencum- 
bered of  the  scabbard,  that  has  so  long  served  only  to  conceal 
and  corrode  its  brightness  ? 

The  transition  is  a  natural  one  from  the  doctrines  of  the 
Gospel  to  the  motives  which  they  suggest  and  sustain.  And 
much  aid  will  have  been  won  for  urging  onward  the  cause  of 
the  Saviour  in  heathen  lands,  when  a  higher  standard  of  faith 
shall  have  trained  up  the  church  in  greater  simplicity  of  pur- 
pose, and  in  pure  and  single-hearted  desire  for  the  glory  of 
God.  How  much  effort  is  now  lost  to  the  w^orld  and  the 
church,  because  polluted  by  motives  which  God  cannot  deign 
to  bless.  When  this  transparency  of  purpose  shall  become 
prevalent,  how  strong  and  general  the  tendency  towards  a 
cordial  union  of  all  Christians  in  the  common  cause.  How 
much  of  the  time  and  strength  of  brethren  is  now  wasted  upon 
unbrotherly  divisions.  Bigotry  and  partizanship  are  dividing 
those  who  should  never  have  been  sundei-ed.  And  how 
much  useful  and  needed  power  is  now  withholden,  because  its 
possessors  are  at  present  unwilling  to  bestow  it,  accompanied, 
as  it  would  be,  with  an  exposure  of  their  personal  inferiority. 
The  talent  being  but  one,  they  deem  it  but  Christian  modesty 
to  enwrap  and  inter  it.  A  faith  which  shall  purge  the  heart 
of  these  base  and  earth-born  feelings,  and  make  the  motives 
of  action  necessarily  more  powerful,  as  they  were  more  sim- 
ple and  pure,  would  evidently  strengthen  the  aggressive 
energies  of  the  church  for  her  inroads  upon  the  dominions  of 
spiritual  darkness. 

The  force  of  pious  example  in  the   Christian  church,  as 


TO    THE   SUCCESS    OF    CHRISTIAN   MISSIONS.  179 

influencing  the  world,  is  yet  but  scantily  developed.  But 
when  there  should  prevail  a  general  union  amongst  the  disci- 
ples of  our  Lord,  one  of  the  most  common  topics  of  reproach, 
employed  by  the  world,  would  be  taken  away.  Affecting, 
also,  as  an  increase  of  faith  woidd  do,  the  personal  character 
of  each  member  in  the  various  divisions  of  the  Christian 
church,  what  would  be  the  influence  of  the  resplendent  and 
consistent  holiness  thus  cherished,  upon  the  families  and  de- 
pendents, the  neighbours  and  friends  of  Christians !  And 
this  influence  would  be  felt,  not  merely  inviting  their  coop- 
eration in  the  missionary  alms  of  the  church,  but  attracting 
and  awakening  them  to  inquiry  and  repentance,  and  drawing 
them  into  the  same  bonds  of  tender  and  heavenly  brother- 
hood. How  miich  of  the  reasoning  and  zeal  and  energy  of 
the  church  is  now  wasted,  because  counteracted  by  the  luke- 
warm remissness  or  the  undisguised  scandals  exhibited  in 
multitudes  wearing  the  Christian  name.  And  when  a  vigo- 
rous and  wholesome  faith  should  purify  our  churches  ;  when 
the  unhealthy  and  diseased  portions  should  be  seen  sloughing 
away  under  the  searching  influence  of  Christian  discipline, 
and  the  faithfulness  of  an  evangelical  ministry ;  and  the 
church  should  shine  forth  in  the  healthful  beauty  and  symme- 
try of  holiness  ;  what  would  be  the  boldness  of  her  advocates, 
the  power  of  her  appeals,  and  the  confusion  of  her  enemies ! 
And  all  these  would  be  felt  immediately  in  the  fields  of  mis- 
sionary labor ;  the  Christian  mariner,  the  Christian  merchant, 
and  the  Christian  traveller,  would  strengthen  by  a  holy  ex- 
ample, in  the  sight  of  the  heathen,  the  hands  of  the  Christian 
missionary. 

But  the  most  important  advantage  thus  gained,  for  the 
cause  of  our  Lord  in  unevangelized  lands,  would  be  the  en- 
larged channel  for  the  communication  of  the  Divine  Influ- 
ences. Without  faith,  it  is  impossible  to  please  God.  Great 
faith  delights,  as  a  weak  and  narrow  faith  dishonprs  and 
grieves  Him.  And  when  the  thousands  of  Israel  shall  go  up 
with  the  ardent  though  humble  expectation  of  receiving  an 
answer  to  their  prayers,  whilst  the  supplications  of  primitive 
faith  should  again  ascend,  who  shall  say  that  the  wonders  of 
the  early  church  may  not  return  ;  and  men,  in  the  spirit  and 
power  of  the  early  believers,  rise  up  to  become  the  heralds 
of  salvation  to  the  most  distant  and  most  brutified  tribes  of 
mankind  ?  Assuredly  those  who  shall  honor  Him  by  a  child- 
Uke  dependence,  would  be  honored  of  Him.     Then,  as  the 


I 


180  INCREASE    OF   FAITH   NECESSARY 

early  and  the  latter  rain  descended,  and  when  the  "foun- 
tains of  the  great  deep  "  of  moral  power  now  unemployed, 
should  be  broken  up  from  beneath  in  a  wrestling  church,  and 
"  the  windows  of  heaven  "  be  opened  from  above  by  a  favor- 
ing God ;  how  rapidly  would  the  waters  of  salvation  rise  and 
swell  and  diffuse  themselves,  till  the  knowledge  of  the  Lord 
should  cover  the  earth, 

"  And  like  a  sea  of  gloiy 
It  spread  from  pole  to  pole." 

III.  From  this  review  of  the  possible  and  legitimate  fruits 
of  Christian  faith,  let  us  turn  to  its  actual  results  in  our  midst, 
that  we  may  learn  the  deficiencies  in  our  faith  which 

RETARD  the  TRIUMPHS  OF  CHRISTIAN  TRUTH  OVER  ITS 
ANTAGONIST   ERRORS. 

We  are  accustomed  to  look  abroad  to  the  mass  of  evil  with 
which  the  Christian  missionary  must  contend  in  heathen  lands, 
and  to  suppose  that  here  are  the  chief  obstacles  to  his  suc- 
cess. The  language  of  the  text  and  the  previous  considera- 
tions brought  before  you,  would  lead  to  the  conclusion  that 
this  is  not  the  truth.  Not  in  the  gorgeous  temples,  and  the 
costly  images,  and  all  the  imposing  pageantry  of  idolatry,  by 
which  he  is  environed  ;  not  in  the  wiles  and  violence  of  an 
organized  and  interested  priesthood;  not  in  the  deep  hold 
which  a  false  religion  has  taken  upon  the  arts,  and  customs, 
and  literature,  and  every  institution,  political  and  social,  of 
the  nation  ;  not  in  any  of  these,  nor  in  all  of  them  united,  is 
the  most  formidable  resistance  to  his  labors  to  be  found.  The 
stress  of  battle  is  in  a  remoter  and  unobserved  portion  of  the 
field.  His  foes  and  his  hindrances  are  rather  to  be  sought  in 
the  land  he  has  left,  and  in  the  very  bosom  of  the  church 
which  has  commissioned  and  despatched  him.  It  is  because 
their  faith  is  not  increased  adequately  to  sustain  him,  that  his 
heart  languishes,  and  his  soul  is  faint  within  him ;  and  while 
he  calls  upon  the  obstinate  and  besotted  pagan  before  him  to 
repent  of  his  unbelief,  he  sends  back  over  the  intervening 
ocean,  to  the  churches  of  his  native  land,  an  appeal  not  less 
earnest  and  yet  more  touching,  that  they  too  repent  of  the 
poverty  and  pettiness  of  their  faith,  and  that  they  enlarge 
him  in  his  labors  according  to  the  apostolic  rule,  and  upon  the 
primitive  model. 

The  existence  of  such  deficiencies  in  our  faith  is  painfully 


TO    THE    SUCCESS    OF    CHRISTIAN   MISSIONS.  181 

evident,  in  the  inadequacy  of  the  views  which  that  faith  min- 
isters, of  the  external  fruits  which  it  produces,  and  of  the  in- 
ternal spirit  which  it  breathes ;  or  in  its  influence  upon  the 
intellect,  the  conduct  and  the  affections. 

1 .  The  views  with  which  their  faith  furnishes  the  majority 
of  those  attached  to  our  churches,  are  then  singularly  inade- 
quate with  regard  to  the  miseries  of  the  world.  Of  the  fear- 
ful condition  of  the  vast  mass  of  our  race,  the  hundreds  of 
millions  ignorant  or  neglectful  of  the  Gospel,  we  think  little 
and  inquire  still  less.  Of  temporal  suffering  —  of  the  anguish 
which  ignorance,  vice,  and  unrestrained  passion  are  working 
merely  for  this  life,  how  immense  is  the  amount ;  for  gross 
darkness  covers  the  nations,  and  the  dark  places  of  the  earth 
are  necessarily  and  ever  full  of  the  habitations  of  cruelty. 
How  fatal  is  the  influence  upon  human  happiness,  even  for 
the  few  days  of  our  earthly  career,  of  vice,  not  merely  legal- 
ized, but  sanctified  and  deified  in  the  national  idols,  as  we 
find  it  under  every  form  of  paganism.  But  what  is  even  this, 
compared  to  the  hopeless  and  unending  woe  into  which  death 
shall  hurl  the  tribes  of  heathenism.  And  yet  those,  who  thus, 
whilst  groaning  under  present  misery,  work  out  fiercer  suf- 
ferings for  eternity,  are  our  brethren,  like  us  fallen  and  vicious, 
but  like  us,  immortal  and  accountable.  Of  this  fearful  wretch- 
edness our  perception  is  indistinct  and  transient.  We  have 
no  deep  and  abiding  conviction  of  the  evil  of  sin,  and  the 
necessary  misery  of  its  captives. 

There  is  equal  deficiency  in  our  views  of  the  promises  of 
Scripture,  How  large  a  portion  of  prophecy  is  given  to  the 
glories  of  the  Messiah's  kingdom  !  They  occupy  a  prominent 
room  and  large  space  in  the  brief  form  of  supplication  given 
by  our  Saviour  to  his  disciples.  Redolent  as  these  promises 
are  of  the  most  delightful  hopes,  how  seldom  do  we  remem- 
ber, and  how  faintly  plead  them  ;  though  the  kingdoms  of  the 
world  shall  become  the  kingdoms  of  God's  Son,  the  Gentiles 
shall  be  his  inheritance,  and  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth 
are  his  assured  possession. 

Come  then,  and,  added  to  thy  many  crowns, 
Eeceive  yet  one,  the  crown  of  all  the  earth, 
Thou  who  alone  art  worthy  ! — 
The  very  spirit  of  the  world  is  tired 
Of  its  own  taunting  question,  asked  so  long, 
"  Where  is  the  promise  of  your  Lord's  approach  ?  " 
Come  then,  and,  added  to  thy  many  crowns, 
16 


182  INCREASE    OF   FAITH   NECESSARY 

^MllffV*-^^         Receive  yet  one,  as  radiant  as  the  rest, 
Due  to  tliy  last  and  most  effectual  work, 
Thy  word  fulfilled,  the  conques^t  of  a  world. 

Nor  are  our  views  more  just  and  complete  as  to  our  own 
ohligations  and  vows.  Although  our  entrance  upon  the 
course  of  Christian  profession  was  by  devoting  ourselves  to 
the  service  of  the  Lord,  and  having  given  ourselves  to  Him, 
we  gave  ourselves  into  the  church  by  His  will ;  has  not  the 
dedication  been  forgotten,  or  practically  revoked  by  too  many 
of  our  number  ?  The  lights  of  the  earth,  —  we  are  shedding 
around  but  a  dim,  flickering,  and  uncertain  lustre.  The  salt 
of  the  world,  —  who  has  perceived  in  us  the  savor  of  Christian 
vitality  ? 

But  especially  do  our  views  assume  the  appearance  of 
meagre  insufficiency,  in  the  estimate  they  afford  of  the  pecu- 
liar opportunities  of  the  age  for  Christian  usefulness.  "  Ye 
hypocrites,"  exclaimed  our  Lord,  "can  ye  not  discern  the 
signs  of  the  times  ?  "  Are  the  larger  number  of  Christians 
at  all  awake  to  the  fact,  that  the  signs  of  our  times  call  upon 
the  believers  of  the  nineteenth  century  for  unprecedented 
exertions  ?  The  advance  of  popular  freedom  and  general 
education,  the  unrestrained  commercial  intercourse  of  nations, 
the  wide-spread  peace  now  enjoyed,  the  improved  speed  and 
lessened  expense  of  travelling,  the  newly-developed  powers 
of  the  press,  the  powers  each  day  more  apparent  of  voluntary 
associations,  the  extensive  and  daily  extending  use  of  the 
language  we  have  inherited  from  England,  and  which  is  now 
becoming  intelligible  in  the  chief  maritime  ports  of  the  world 
—  all  require  at  the  hands  of  American  Christians  no  ordinary 
exertions.  The  daily  enlargements  of  the  mission  field,  and 
the  success  of  truth's  first  onset  upon  the  powers  of  darkness, 
are  summoning  us  most  impressively  to  action.  The  institu- 
tions of  Hindooism,  of  such  vaunted  antiquity,  and  rooted  in 
the  veneration  of  ages,  seem  already  tottering  to  their  over- 
throw, ere  the  generation  is  gone  from  the  earth  that  first 
sapped  their  base.  The  barrier  which  long  closed  the  vast 
empire  of  China  is  now  found  to  be  but  the  brittle  seal  of  an 
imperial  edict,  unsustained  by  the  national  feelings.  The 
word  of  God,  as  recently  translated  and  published  in  lan- 
guages never  before  taught  the  name  of  Jehovah,  is  calling 
for  the  living  preacher  to  scatter  and  to  interpret  it.  Amid  all 
these  omens  of  good  and  incentives  to  diligence,  are  we  found 


TO    THE    SUCCESS    OF    CHRISTIAN    MISSIONS.  183 

awake  to  the  fact,  or  conscious  of  the  majesty  and  splendor 
of  the  scenes  now  opening  ?  On  the  contrary,  is  not  the 
church  protracting  her  slumbers,  while  the  whole  heaven 
above  her  is  reddening  with  the  dawn  of  that  day,  which 
shall  usher  in  her  restoration  and  the  redemption  of  all  the 
earth  ? 

But  the  most  afflictive  defect  in  our  views,  is  the  slight  and 
irreverent  estimate  we  form  of  our  Divine  Ally,  The  King 
of  kings  is  our  intercessor,  the  Omniscient  Spirit  is  our 
teacher ;  and  we  are  invited  to  counsel  with  Divine  "Wis- 
dom, and  to  stay  ourselves  on  the  arm  of  Creative  Power. 
Yet  how  do  we  narrow  down  the  magnificence  of  the  Divine 
promises,  and  compress  the  hopes,  large  and  grand,  offered 
by  the  gospel,  into  some  petty  and  pitiful  request,  that,  as  we 
imagine,  bespeaks  Christian  humility,  but  in  truth  displays 
contemptuous  unbelief.  What !  when  God  is  for  us,  is  it  not 
most  guilty  to  hesitate  and  linger  in  minor  and  facile  enter- 
prises ?  What  would  have  been  thought  of  him  whose  mem- 
ory we  are  wont  to  hail  as  the  Father  of  his  country,  if,  when 
joined  by  the  fleets  and  army  of  our  foreign  ally,  he  had 
gathered  the  combined  hosts  to  the  siege  of  some  petty  bar- 
rack, garrisoned  by  a  few  disbanded  invalids  ?  The  great- 
ness of  the  God  we  serve,  demands  on  our  part  a  large  and 
manly,  a  far-sighted  and  far-reaching  faith. 

2.  The  same  odious  discrepancy  between  its  privileges  and 
doings,  its  powers  and  its  results,  is  seen  in  the  external  fruiU 
of  our  faith,  or  its  influence  upon  the  conduct.  In  the  prayers 
of  the  church,  as  offered  in  her  solemn  assemblies,  is  there 
the  due  and  earnest  remembrance  of  the  missionary  laborer, 
who  has,  like  Jonathan  and  his  armor-bearer,  clambered  up 
into  the  high  places  of  heathenism,  and  finds  himself  alone  in 
the  very  midst  of  the  enemy  ?  In  the  Monthly  Concert,  that 
touching  union  which  brings  the  Christians  of  every  hue,  and 
language,  and  kindred,  into  one  assembly,  and  blends  their 
hearts  in  the  utterance  of  one  petition,  is  the  meeting  main- 
tained with  that  general  and  devout  attendance  demanded  by 
the  beauty  of  its  conception  and  the  grandeur  of  its  object  ? 
Of  the  alms  of  the  church  —  how  pitiful  the  amount  com- 
pared with  the  free  and  glad  sacrifices  made  on  the  altars  of 
dissipation  and  intemperance,  in  games  of  chance,  in  fashion- 
able equipages,  furniture,  and  dress,  in  the  support  of  the 
theatre,  the  race-course,  and  the  lottery,  in  the  extrava- 
gance of  our  tables,  and  the  sumptuousness  of  our  homes. 


184  INCREASE    OF   FAITH   NECESSARY 

Of  that  which  is  given,  how  much  is  the  niggardly  parings 
of  a  plentiful  income.  We  have  begun  by  devoting  to  God 
the  (choicest  of  the  herd  and  the  firstlings  of  the  flock ;  and 
have  finished  by  laying  on  His  altars  but  the  offals  of  the 
victim.  In  our  labors  and  our  sacrifices  for  the  cause  of 
God,  how  rarely  is  found  the  noble  disinterestedness,  or 
the  humble  and  retiring  generosity  that  distinguished  the 
faith  of  the  primitive  times.  But,  above  all,  is  there  not 
need  of  a  wide  and  deep  renovation  throughout  the  mass  of 
our  churches,  ere  the  standard  of  personal  holiness  can  be 
deemed  at  all  comparable  with  that  which  sprung  from 
faith,  as  apostles  preached  it,  and  as  its  first  confessors  re- 
ceived it  ? 

3.  The  internal  spirit  which  it  breathes,  was  spoken  of  as 
betraying  a  deficiency  in  the  faith  of  modem  believers.  If 
love  to  man  be  the  second  great  commandment  of  the  Scrip- 
tures, is  it  sufiiciently  awakened  within  us,  and  in  proportion 
to  the  dignity  which  revelation  has  thus  assigned  it  ?  But  in 
love  to  God,  in  anxiety  for  continued  communion  with  Him, 
and  deepening  conformity  to  His  image,  in  desire  for  the 
honor  of  His  name,  are  we  not  verily  guilty  of  a  fearful 
deficiency,  and  needs  not  our  faith  immediate  renovation  and 
increase  ?  '  Have  we  that  intense  fear  and  abhorrence  of  sin 
which  a  lively  faith  ever  displays  ?  The  confidence  of  the 
faithful  anciently  inspired  them  with  a  holy  and  dauntless 
courage,  as  they  faced  and  rebuked  the  world-  Is  ours  thus 
operative  ?  Theirs  was  a  humility,  which,  springing  from 
conscious  weakness,  clung  the  more  closely  to  God,  and  amid 
the  largest  success,  resigned  to  Him  the  undivided  glory ;  is 
our  faith  thus  lowly  in  its  spirit  and  tendency  ?  The  voice 
of  inspiration  has  said,  "  If  any  man  have  not  the  spirit  of 
Christ,  he  is  none  of  his."  Is  the  faith,  in  the  possession  of 
which  we  exult,  thus  attended  and  verified  ?  Have  we  been 
fashioned  into  his  likeness  and  imbibed  his  temper  ?  Is  ours 
the  life  of  cross-bearing  and  watchfulness  and  prayerfulness  ? 
if  not,  is  it  a  life  of  discipleship  to  Christ  —  is  it  the  race  of 
faith,  swift,  direct,  and  onward  ?  and  shall  it  win  at  last  the 
crown  of  the  triumphant  believer  ? 

Church  of  the  living  God,  is  there  not  utterly  a  fault 
amongst  us  in  this  matter  ?  And  until  our  faith  increase,  can 
we  hope  that,  according  to  the  rule  of  Paul's  apostolic  labors, 
the  destitute  Gentiles  should  be  evangelized  ?  Is  not  an  en- 
largement now  demanded  and  now  due  in  the  labors,  prayers, 


TO    THE    SUCCESS    OF    CHRISTIAN   MISSIONS.  185 

and  alms  that  go  to  sustain  the  cause  of  Christian  missions  ? 
and  what  but  the  renovation  of  faith  shall  work  that  enlarge- 
ment ?  Let  us  not  contrast  our  sacrifices  and  zeal  merely 
with  those  of  the  Master  whose  name  we  bear,  and  whom  we 
have  avouched  as  our  Great  Exemplar :  let  us  but  measure 
our  endeavors,  in  their  number,  and  in  the  prudence,  liberality, 
and  perseverance  that  mark  them,  with  the  efforts  and  spirit 
of  the  men  of  this  world,  who  are  without  hope  and  without 
God.  Yielding  up  the  comforts  of  home  and  the  society  of 
friends,  forswearing  ease,  periling  character,  lavishing  life, 
and  venturing  even  upon  eternal  ruin,  as  they  do,  the  walks 
of  this  world's  business  and  of  this  world's  pleasures  are 
strewed  with  the  voluntary  and  costly  sacrifices  of  time, 
property,  comfort,  life,  and  salvation.  But  we,  with  a  soul 
to  save,  a  heaven  to  lose  or  win,  a  Christ  to  publish,  and  a 
God  to  serve — how  shamefully  calm  are  we  found,  and 
timid  and  half-hearted  !  And  this,  while  the  world  is  rushing 
into  ruin,  and  bearing  on  its  swollen  and  rapid  stream  our 
friends,  our  neighbors,  and  our  children ;  —  while  the  earth 
which  God  has  promised  to  bless,  (and  that  by  human  instru- 
mentality,) lies  as  yet,  prostrate  and  groaning,  under  the  curse 
poured  out  through  all  her  coasts.  The  time  is  coming,  and 
prophecy  has  foretold  it,  when  in  every  land  there  shall  be 
offered  to  God  a  pure  offering  —  when,  from  the  closet  and 
the  sanctuary,  from  the  hill-top,  the  field,  and  the  forest- 
side,  where  the  children  of  God  shall;  like  Isaac,  walk  forth 
at  eventide  to  meditate,  the  voice  of  pious  supplication  shall 
ascend  in  one  continuous  stream ;  until  our  globe,  as  it  rolls 
along  its  orbit,  shall  seem  but  a  censer  revolving  in  the  hand 
of  the  Great  High  Priest,  and  pouring  out  at  every  aper- 
ture a  cloud,  dense  and  rich,  of  incense,  fragrant  and  grate- 
ful to  God.  But,  as  yet,  the  ascending  cloud  is  one  of  far 
other  kind.  Its  skirts  are  dark  with  sullen  gloom,  and  its 
bosom  is  charged  with  indignation  and  vengeance.  Wailing 
and  blasphemy,  oppression  and  outrage,  pollution  and  false- 
hood, have  swollen  and  blackened  it ;  and  with  it,  a  cry 
goes  up,  like  that  from  the  cities  of  the  plain,  piercing  the 
ear  of  God.  Day  unto  day  uttereth  speech  of  human 
wretchedness,  and  night  unto  night  sheweth  knowledge  of 
human  wickedness.  What  has  our  faith,  my  brethren,  done 
for  its  relief?  What  will  be  the  fruits  of  our  belief  in  the 
alms  and  the  prayers  now  demanded ;  what  its  share  in  the 
16* 


186  INCREASE    OP   FAITH,   ETC. 

services  of  this  assembly  ?  Shall  we  not  exclaim,  reviewing 
the  greatness  of  the  task,  on  the  one  hand,  and,  on  the  other, 
the  greatness  of  the  guilt  which  has  neglected  it,  as  did  the 
apostles,  whilst  their  Lord  was  enjoining  a  duty  alike  neces- 
sary and  difficult,  "  Lord,  increase  our  faith." 


THE    CROSS. 

BY 

REV.    RICHARD    FULLER,    D.  D. 
And  I,  if  I  be  lifted  up  from  the  earth,  will  draw  all  men  unto  me.— John  12 :  32- 

That  is  a  singular  account  givien  by  Eusebius  of  the  con- 
version of  Constantine.  He  was  marching,  says  the  historian, 
at  the  head  of  his  army  from  France,  to  encounter  his  rival 
Maxentius  in  a  conflict,  upon  the  issue  of  which  his  empire 
depended.  Oppressed  with  anxiety,  he  prayed  that  some 
God  would  aid  him ;  when,  in  the  heavens  and  higher  than 
the  sun,  a  luminous  cross  appeared,  emblazoned  with  these 
words :  "  JBy  this  sign  thou  shalt  conquer J^  He  did  conquer ; 
and  ever  after  the  cross  was  displayed  as  the  banner  of  the 
Caesars. 

The  truth  of  this  narrative  I,  of  course,  shall  not  now  ex- 
amine. It  is  certain.  Fathers  and  Brethren,  and  all  important 
for  us  to  recollect,  that,  in  the  noble  enterprise  in  which  we 
are  engaged,  there  is  but  one  standard  which  can  be  upreared 
successfully  —  but  one  banner  which,  star-like,  must  flame 
above  our  ranks,  and  lead  us  on  to  victory  —  and  that  this  is 
the  Cross,  —  the  Cross  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

How  exactly  to  the  subject  in  hand  is  the  prediction  uttered 
by  a  prophet,  and  cited  by  Paul  in  the  fifteenth  chapter  of 
Eomans.  "  In  that  day  there  shall  be  a  root  of  Jesse,  which 
shall  stand  for  an  ensign  of  the  people  ;  to  it  shall  the  Gen- 
tiles seek."  And  although  it  is  probable  that  Isaiah  himself 
did  not  comprehend  "  what  the  spirit  of  Christ  which  was  in 
him  did  signify,"  (for  a  cross!  a  gallows!  —  even  upon  the 


188  THE    CROSS. 

vision  of  that  most  rapt  of  all  the  Seers  of  Israel,  could  this 
have  streamed  as  an  ensign  for  man's  deliverance  —  for  the 
gathering  and  disenthralling  of  the  nations  ?)  yet  we,  my 
brethren,  understand  the  prophecy  and  its  fulfilment. 

The  very  act,  indeed,  of  the  crucifixion,  and  the  hour,  fur- 
nished remarkable  proof,  or  rather  a  significant  type  and 
adumbration,  of  the  influence  which  the  cross  would  exert. 
On  that  day  and  witnessing  that  spectacle,  were  present,  in 
truth,  the  very  "  all  men" — that  is,  all  classes  of  men  —  to 
whom  the  text  refers ;  and  observe  the  effect  on  them.  In 
the  Roman  centurion,  behold  a  representative  of  the  intellect- 
ual and  skeptical;  and  what  is  the  effect  on  him?  He  is 
convinced ;  he  "  feared  greatly,  saying  truly  this  was  the  Son 
of  God."  In  the  multitude,  remark  the  careless  and  thought- 
less ;  and  what  are  their  emotions  ?  Roused  and  agitated, 
they  leave  the  spot,  "  smiting  heavily  on  their  breasts."  And 
in  that  poor  thief —  in  his  conscious  guilt,  his  penitence,  his 
imploring  cry  for  help,  and  the  answer  which  at  once  dispels 
his  fears,  and  sheds  joy  throughout  his  soul,  and  opens  to  him 
the  gates  of  Paradise  —  see  there  the  influence  of  the  cross 
upon  a  sinner,  its  power  to  stir,  and  then  to  hush,  the  guilty 
clamor  within. 

Behold  the  might  of  the  cross,  as  exhibited  in  the  very  act 
of  the  crucifixion,  and  on  that  memorable  day  when  the  Sa- 
viour was  lifted  up.  But  was  this  power  confined  to  that 
time,  and  to  that  place  ?  No,  my  brethren.  As  Paul  said  to 
the  Galatians  who  had  heard  the  Gospel,  "  Jesus  Christ  hath 
been  evidently  set  forth  crucified  among  you,"  although  Ga- 
latia  was  some  hundreds  of  miles  distant  from  Calvary,  —  so, 
wherever  the  gospel  is  now  preached  to  a  people,  there  the 
Saviour  is  set  forth  lifted  up  ^mong  that  people,  and  there 
the  same  influence  will  be  felt,  the  same  potency  exerted. 
Still  it  is  true,  (and  I  here  indicate  the  subject  and  division 
of  my  whole  discourse)  still  it  is  true,  that  whatever  the  intel- 
lect of  a  man,  there  is  an  argument  in  the  cross  to  convince 
him ;  whatever  the  heedlessness  of  a  man,  there  is  an  energy 
in  the  cross  to  rouse  him ;  in  fine,  whatever  his  guilt,  there  is 
in  the  cross  a  magnetism  to  draw,  and  a  magic  to  change,  and 
a  mystery  to  save  him.  Let  us  resume  these  thoughts.  I 
beg  you,  my  hearers,  to  honor  me  with  all  your  attention. 
And,  "  O  Thou  that  hearest  prayer,"  vouchsafe  me  the  ador- 
able succors  of  thy  grace,  and  hasten  the  time  when  "  unto 
Thee  shall  all  flesh  come  I  "     Amen. 


THE    CROSS.  189 

I  am  going  to  consider  the  cross,  in  the  first  place,  simply 
as  an  argument ;  and  recollect,  the  Saviour  himself  declares 
that  one  object  of  his  mission  and  death  was  the  assertion  and 
establishment  of  the  truth.  It  was  just  before  he  died  upon 
the  cross  that  he  said,  "  To  this .  end  was  I  born,  and  for  this 
cause  came  I  into  the  world,  that  I  should  bear  witness  to  the 
truth."  And  the  apostle  represents  the  '*  truth  in  Jesus  "  as 
the  only  truth  that  can  really  master  the  intellect  of  man,  and 
make  him  wise  unto  salvation,  because  this  alone  converts 
speculation  into  certainty,  and  substitutes  assurance  as  to 
eternal  things,  for  those  vague  and  confused  and  unsettled 
conjecture^-which  may  exist  in  truth  out  of  Jesus,  but  are 
wholly  incompetent  and  ineffectual. 

Only  "  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus  "  will  avail,  says  the  apos- 
tle, and  with  reason.  Why,  just  reflect  for  a  moment — just 
consider,  my  brethren,  what  it  is  the  gospel  requires  in  calling 
us  to  be  Christians.  It  is  to  immolate  self — it  is  to  be  di- 
vorced from  the  world,  to  renounce  the  world,  to  be  crucified 

to  the  world. Renounce  the  world  !  be  crucified  to  the 

world  !  And  of  whom  is  this  required  ?  —  of  angels  ?  —  of 
beings  all  soul,  all  spirit?  —  by  no  means; — of  men — of 
beings  carrying  within  them  a  thousand  appetites,  a  thousand 
passions,  a  thousand  propensities,  and  around  whom  are 
strewed,  from  their  cradles  to  their  graves,  objects  most 
seductive,  and  solicitations  most  refined  and  delicate.  All 
these  inclinations  must  be  subdued,  all  these  importunities 
repelled,  all  these  fascinations  surmounted.  And  for  what  ? 
What  does  the  gospel  propose  in  their  place  ?  Things  unseen, 
a  world  buried  in  the  darkness  of  futurity ;  objects  which  eye 
hath  not  seen,  nor  ear  heard,  neither  hath  it  entered  into  the 
heart  of  man  to  conceive. 

Now  I  need  not  tell  you,  that  against  this  sweeping  demand 
of  the  gospel  there  is  not  a  taste  or  affection  in  the  natural 
heart  but  will  rise  up  in  resistance.  No  language  can  convey 
more  forcibly  the  idea  of  violence,  of  a  painful  and  protracted 
struggle,  than  the  very  expression  "  crucified  to  the  world." 
And  nothing  is  more  proper,  then,  than  that  the  mind  insist 
upon  conclusive  evidence  as  to  these  objects  which  are  to 
"  overcome "  and  displace  the  world.  From  what  source, 
however,  can  this  evidence  be  derived  ?  From  our  senses  ? 
They  give  us  no  sort  of  information  as  to  such  things.  From 
our  reason  ?  We  feel  that  this  is  inadequate.  From  the 
books  of  philosophers  ?     But,  besides  that  their  lessons  are 


190  THE    CROSS. 

such  subtilties  as  the  multitude  could  never  understand,*  the 
truth  is,  the  philosophers  themselves  felt  but  little  confidence 
in  their  own  reasonings.  Socrates,  when  dying,  said,  "  I  am 
going  out  of  the  world  and  you  remain  in  it,  but  which  is 
better  is  known  only  to  God.  I  hope,"  continued  the  old  man, 
"  I  hope  there  is  something  reserved  for  us  after  death." 
Cicero  confesses  himself  unable  to  decide  any  thing  here ; 
and  introduces  one  complaining  "  that  while  he  was  reading 
the  arguments  for  immortality,  he  felt  convinced,  but  as  soon 
as  he  laid  aside  his  books,  his  belief  was  gone."  And  Seneca 
well  remarks,  that  "  the  philosophers  rather  promised,  than 
proved  an  existence  beyond  the  tomb." 

But  if  the  testimony  of  the  senses,  and  the  decisions  of  rea- 
son, and  the  systems  of  philosophy,  are  impotent  for  the  extir- 
pation of  our  earthly  preferences  and  passions,  where  can  we 
find  that  conviction  which  shall  possess  the  ascendant  power  ? 
Only  in  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus.  The  cross  is  the  only 
argument ;  but  it  is  an  argument  all-sufficient  —  an  argument 
so  conclusive  that  no  power  of  intellect  can  refute  it,  and  so 
simple  that  there  is  no  ignorance  which  cannot  comprehend  it. 

Yes,  my  brethren,  Jesus  Christ  "  brings  life  and  immortal- 
ity to  light."  He  comes,  "  a  witness  to  the  people,"  "  to  bear 
witness  to  the  truth."  And  he  supports  his  doctrines  by  his 
life,  and  vindicates  them  by  his  miracles.  Bring  forth,  he 
says,  your  sick,  your  blind,  your  lame,  and  your  dead ;  and 
at  his  bidding,  the  sick  are  restored  to  health,  the  blind  re- 
ceive their  sight,  the  lame  walk,  and  the  dead  are  raised  to 
life.  These  were  sufficient  attestations,  ample  credentials, 
and  ought  to  have  satisfied  all.  These,  however,  did  not  sat- 
isfy the  Jews.  They  ask  another,  and,  as  they  themselves 
admitted,  a  conclusive  testimony;  and  he  gives  even  that. 
He  seals  his  doctrines  with  his  blood.  And  while  evil  men 
and  evil  angels  are  exulting  in  the  seeming  extinction  of  the 
truth,  he  bursts  the  bands  which  held  him,  and,  rising,  stamps 
upon  that  truth  the  broad  bright  signet  of  Deity  confessed ; — 
of  a  God  who  could  not  only  bend  to  his  will  and  at  a  word 
the  hidden  mysteries  and  ministries  of  nature,  but  could 
invade  the  pale  dominions  of  Death  himself,  and  grappling 

^  *  It  was  expressly  taught  by  the  Platonists,  that  none  but  the  philosopher 
living  in  meditation  could  attain  to  the  spiritual  knowledge  of  religion.  To 
him  pertained  the  iTrKTTtjjurj ;  the  people  must  be  satisfied  with  the  J'o^u,  a 
compound  of  falsehood  and  truth.  Hence  the  distinction  between  the  eso- 
teric and  exoteric  religion. 


THE    CROSS.  191 

there,  and  in  his  grave-clothes,  with  the  tyrant,  could  tear  the 
black  diadem  from  his  brow,  and  wrench  from  him  his  cruel 
sceptre,  and  shiver  at  a  blow  his  skeleton  empire,  and  plant 
his  bruised  heel  in  disdain  upon  the  prostrate  monster  who 
sought  to  detain  him  captive. 

O  yes,  dying  and  standing  a  mighty  conqueror  over  the 
tomb,  the  Redeemer  graves  as  with  sunbeams  the  proof  of 
his  doctrines.  It  is  impossible  now  to  doubt.  If  ever  incre- 
dulity was  personified,  and  skepticism  incarnate,  it  was  in 
those  men  who  witnessed  the  Saviour's  miracles,  and  who 
crucified  him  ;  but,  by  his  death  and  resurrection,  Jesus  in  a 
most  illustrious  manner  accomplished  even  the  sign,  and 
achieved  even  the  argument  which  they  demanded.  Of  that 
death  and  that  resurrection  I  will  not  stop  here  to  marshal 
the  array  of  evidence.  They  are  facts  incontestable  ;  and  if 
any  man  doubt,  I  cut  the  matter  short  with  that  man  —  he 
has  never  examined  the  subject.  No  honest  mind  can  ex- 
amine and  not  confess  the  impregnable  stability  of  the  truth. 
It  is  of  great  moment,  however,  to  remark,  that  these  facts 
being  proved,  the  demonstration  they  furnish  is  precisely  as 
conclusive  to  us,  as  to  those  who  witnessed  them  ;  for  we 
believe,  and  they  could  do  no  more.  The  demonstration  is 
the  same  to  us,  and  wherever  the  Gospel  goes.  The  truths 
the  Saviour  preached  are  equally  proved,  the  doctrines  equally 
established. 

But  these  truths  thus  certain  —  these  doctrines  thus  estab- 
lished —  what  becomes  of  the  world,  with  all  its  attractions  ? 
How  is  it  dwarfed  !  How  are  all  sublunary  splendors 
eclipsed,  shined  into  darkness  ;  —  and  all  mortal  glories  with- 
ered, dimmed,  shrunk,  and  spurned  into  contempt  !  Ye 
charms,  ye  flatteries,  ye  fascinations  of  earth,  what  are  ye  ? 
Ye  pleasures,  ye  riches,  ye  grandeurs,  to  which  men  crawl 
and  before  which  they  prostrate  themselves,  what  are  ye  ? 
Come,  let  me  estimate  you  now,  let  me  see  your  worth,  let 

me  institute  a  comparison But,  my  brethren,  is  this 

necessary  ?  Ah !  do  not  your  hearts  already  feel  the  force 
of  the  argument  ?  What !  will  ye  compare  the  deceitful 
pleasures  of  sin  to  the  "  fullness  of  joy  which  is  in  God's 
presence  ? "  What !  will  ye  prefer  the  stinted  and  polluted 
drops  here  to  the  torrents,  the  rivers  of  delight  which  are  "  at 
his  right  hand  ?  "What !  will  ye  lie  down  in  hell  and  become 
a  prey  to  devils,  for  the  gratification  of  a  vile  passion  ?  All 
pomps  and  glories  of  this  world,  —  are  they  worthy  to  be  com- 


192  THE    CROSS. 

pared  to  "  the  glory  whicli  shall  be  revealed  in  us,"  "  the 
exceeding,"  "  the  more  exceeding,"  "  the  far  more  exceeding 
and  eternal  weight  of  glory  ?  "  To  "  see  God  ; "  —  to  ''  be 
changed  into  the  same  image  ;  "  —  to  "  go  to  Mount  Zion,  to 
the  city  of  the  living  God,  to  the  heavenly  Jerusalem ; "  — 
no  more  to  know  sin,  and  sickness,  and  pain,  and  sorrow ;  — 
to  be  forever  united  to  saints,  and  cherubim,  and  seraphim, 
shouting  "  Alleluia,  Salvation,  and  glory,  and  honor,  and 
power,  unto  the  Lord  our  God,  while  the  four  and  twenty 
elders  fall  down  and  answer.  Alleluia  ; "  —  to  burn  with 
their  ardors  ;  —  to  satiate  the  soul  with  their  ecstacies  ;  —  to 
be  with  Christ ;  —  to  behold  his  glory ;  —  to  follow  the  Lamb 
whithersoever  hevgoeth;  —  to  look  into  his  face;  —  to  gaze 
upon  his  glorified  form,  and  to  think  that  every  vein  in  that 
body  bled  for  me  ;  —  to  be  ravished  with  his  smiles  ;  —  to  fall 

at  his  feet ;  —  to  cling  there  —  to  live  there . 

My  God!  where  is  the  world  now?  What  is  it  worth? 
Yonder,  yonder  is  a  world  for  which  the  Christian  Alexander 
may  well  weep  —  yonder  it  is  all  radiant  with  the  gold  and 
glowing  with  the  sapphire  !  But  this  world  —  this  world 
which  so  dazzles  and  intoxicates  us  —  this  clay  world,  with 
its  clay  honors,  and  clay  pleasures,  and  clay  riches  —  Ah ! 
Lord,  how  little  were  eternal  objects  worthy  of  the  strife,  if 
no  better  than  such  a  world.  And  how  foolish  are  we,  my 
dear  hearers,  is  there  a  spark  of  reason  in  us,  when  we  love 
this  world ;  when  we  refuse  to  immolate  this  world ;  when 
we  hesitate  to  gather  all  this  world  contains,  and  trample  it  in 
the  dust,  that  we  may  spring  upward  and  heavenward  and 
grasp  the  undecaying  glory,  honor,  and  immortality  set  before 
us  in  the  gospel. 

Such  is  our  argument ;  an  argument  convincing,  and,  as  I 
said,  of  equal  power  in  all  ages  and  to  all  men.  Wherever  a 
preacher  or  a  missionary  goes  —  he  may  be  a  weak  man,  an 
unlearned  man  —  but  he  goes  armed  with  this,  and  by  this  he 
will  conquer.  Christ  "  lifted  up  "  will  be  an  argument  to  do 
what  no  reasoning,  no  philosophy  can  do  —  an  argument  high 
as  heaven,  and  deep  as  hell,  and  against  which  no  sophistry 
of  earth,  no  subtlety  of  the  Devil  can  avail.  The  proudest 
intellect  will  confess  its  conclusiveness  ;  and  the  feeblest,  that 
of  the  African  and  the  untutored  Burman,  will  rejoice  in  its 
majestic  simplicity.     This  is  our  first  article. 

But,  my  brethren,  (and  I  pass  here  to  our  second  division,) 
my  brethren  and  fathers,  were  it  doing  any  thing,  think  you, 


THE    CROSS.  193 

to  preacli  Christ  crucified,  if  the  cross  were  only  an  argu- 
ment ?  Were  it  not  utter  ignorance  of  man,  to  suppose  that 
any  demonstration  will  disenchant  him  of  the  world  ?  Why, 
the  argument  may  be  overwhelming,  and  the  evidence  estab- 
lish a  certainty  —  but  what  then  ?  What  is  all  this  to  one 
who  will  not  listen  to  the  argument,  who  will  not  weigh  the 
evidence  ?  What,  in  truth,  my  brethren,  is  the  great  diffi- 
culty we  find  in  our  hearers  —  and  which  the  missionary,  too, 
encounters  in  his  ?  Is  it  to  convince  men  who  are  awakened 
to  eternal  things  ?  By  no  means ;  —  that  were  easy.  No,  it 
is  indifference,  it  is  apathy.  It  is,  that  men  are  buried  in  the 
deep  repose  and  lethargy  of  nature ;  that  they  are  sepulchred 
in  the  senses.  It  is,  that  in  the  polite,  we  have  to  do  with 
hearts  turned  into  artificial  frost-work ;  and  in  the  sensual, 
with  souls  stupefied  and  imbruted ;  in  short,  that  all  are  earth- 
struck  —  and  that  is  worse  than  being  moon-struck  > —  that 
the  care  of  the  passions,  the  dissipations  of  pleasure,  and  the 
more  fatal  dissipations  of  business  —  its  ceaseless  urgencies 
and  activities  —  engross  the  mind,  and  leave,  as  to  eternity, 
only  a  heedlessness  and  listlessness  as  universal  as  they  are 
strange  and  deplorable. 

This  is  the  grand  difficulty.  And,  now,  what  expedient, 
what  engine  can  be  effectual  for  salvation  which  does  not 
meet  this?  But  what  can  meet  it?  What  can  rouse  men 
from  this  fatal  unconcern  and  callousness  ?  The  instrumen- 
tality, my  brethren,  to  accomplish  this  work  is  still  the  same 
—  it  is  the  cross ;  the  power  is  still  in  the  same  object,  —  the 
Saviour  lifted  up  from  the  earth.  It  is  idle  to  talk  about  what 
ought  to  influence  us.  The  simple  fact  is,  that  preaching 
Christ  crucified  is  God's  ordinance  to  stir  the  souls  of  men, 
nor  has  it  ever  failed.  Whatever  the  heedlessness  of  a  man, 
there  is  in  the  cross  an  energy  to  rouse  him,  a  power  which 
ever  has  been,  and  ever  will  be  acknowledged.  This  is  the 
second  proposition  I  advanced,  and  one  which  does  not  appear 
to  me  to  require  any  proof.  Why,  look  at  history  ;  —  I 
appeal  to  facts ;  —  I  appeal  to  the  thousands  of  all  nations, 
ages,  sexes,  temperaments,  and  conditions,  who  have  con- 
fessed this  energy  of  the  cross,  and  yielded  to  it.  And  if 
there  be,  in  all  this  uncounted  assembly,  one  who  has  never 
felt  any  thing  while  a  bleeding  Jesus  has  been  lifted  before 
him,  then  I  know  nothing'  of  the  human  heart ;  let  him  stand 
up,  —  I  wish  to  look  at  bim ;  he  is  more  or  less  than  man. 

Never  felt  any  thing !  but  it  is  impossible,  —  I  know  better^ 
17 


194  THE    CROSS. 

No,  my  brethren,  hardened  a  man  may  be ;  he  may  have  a 
heart  of  stone,  of  steel ;  he  may  glory  in  his  obduracy ;  but 
if  he  has  ever  listened  to  that  tale  of  love  arid  sorrow,  he  has 
not  been  wholly  unmoved.  No,  No,  No,  it  cannot  be !  We 
have  amongst  us  a  class  of  people,  who  are  always  crying  out 
—  "  No  excitement,  we  do  not  want  excitement  in  religion.*' 
Very  well,  let  them  get  a  preacher  who  knows  nothing  of 
Christ  crucified  in  the  heart,  and  says  nothing  of  Christ  cru- 
cified in  the  pulpit,  and  he  will  walk  at  their  head,  and  lead 
them  quietly  and  comfortably  enough  down  to  hell.  The 
cross  will  excite.  It  is  the  most  restless  and  resistless  of 
agitators.  No  sooner  was  it  erected,  than  all  nature  felt  and 
confessed  its  instigations.  The  earth  heaved,  the  veil  of  the 
^  temple  was  rent  from  the  top  to  the  bottom,  it  agitated  the 
rocks,  it  shook  the  sheeted  dead  from  their  slumbers,  and 
disturbed  the  sun  himself.  Nor  hath  it  lost  its  power.  I 
care  not  what  the  man  is  ;  let  him  be  ever  so  desperate  and 
wrapt  in  marble  ;  let  him  be  invulnerable  to  the  most  terrify- 
ing denunciations,  and  inaccesible  to  the  most  touching  remon- 
strance ;  let  vice  &x.  her  gorgon  eye  upon  him,  until  he  be 
petrified  and  frozen  into  flint ;  —  I  care  not.  He  may  be 
proof  against  all  else ;  but  when  this  tear-compelling  story  is 
unfolded,  when  there  is  mustered  before  him  all  the  tempest 
which  beat  upon  that  sacred  head,  and  all  the  love  which  wel- 
comed that  tempest  for  poor  man  —  O,  he  will  not,  he  cannot 
be  proof  against  that ! 

True,  he  may  bid  away  the  holy  feeling,  he  may  quench  it 
and  perish.  But  he  goes  down,  carrying  with  him  the  bitter 
recollection,  that  he  had  been  there  —  in  that  world,  that 
planet  —  where  the  cross  was,  and  had  been  touched  by  it  as 
by  a  wand.  He  may  stifle  the  hallowed  movement,  but  it  will 
cost  him  a  struggle,  and,  for  the  moment  at  least,  the  rock  Avill 
be  smitten,  and  the  heart  will  gush,  and  the  unbidden  tear  will 
tell  that  all  is  not  yet  quite  lost. 

No,  brethren,  the  unparalleled  phenomenon  exhibited  on 
Calvary,  eighteen  hundred  years  ago,  can  never  die,  can 
never  grow  old  ;  and  wheresoever  that  is  proclaimed,  there 
men's  hearts  will  be  shaken ;  the  strings  long  silent  will  be 
swept  by  an  unseen  hand  ;  the  wells  long  sealed  hermetically 
will  be  opened,  and  the  waters  stirred  to  their  inmost  depths. 
I  know  not  why  it  was,  that  when  the  body  of  a  dead  man 
was  let  down  into  the  cave,  and  touched  the  bones  of  the 
long  buried  prophet,  it  was  quickened  into  life.     But  I  do 


THE    CROSS.  l^ 

know,  that  whenever  this  truth  descends  into  the  bosom — 
the  conscience  may  have  been  long  dead,  shrouded  and  en- 
tombed in  adamant  —  yet  its  potency  will  revive  at  the 
contact,  and  the  word,  although  sown  in  weakness,  will  be 
felt  to  be  an  active  and  powerful  thing,  instinct  with  vitality 
and  vigor.  Nor  when  I  speak  thus,  when  I  affirm  this  so 
confidently,  am  I  at  all  regarding  tlie  ability  of  the  preacher, 
though  that  is  important.  Nor  do  I  refer  even  to  the  invisi- 
ble workings  of  the  Spirit,  though  these,  I  am  aware,  are 
indispensable.  I  am  well  aware,  my  brethren,  nor  can  we 
too  constantly  bear  in  mind,  that  it  is  the  office  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  to  apply  the  atonement.  I  know  that,  as  in  creation 
this  glorious  Agent  brooded  over  the  elements,  and  wrought 
out,  from  discord  and  darkness,  light  and  harmony  and  love- 
liness, causing  the  shapeless  mass  to  burst  into  effloresence 
and  beauty,  —  so,  now,  it  is  his,  to  move  plastically  over  the 
chaos  of  principles,  affections,  and  hearts,  disorganized  and 
left  in  confusion  and  ruin  by  the  shock  of  the  fall,  and  to 
reduce  them  back,  and  refashion  them  to  order  and  holiness, 
and  thus  become  the  author  of  the  new  creation.  All  this  I 
know.  But  I  allude  not  at  present  to  this.  The  energy 
asserted  by  the  text,  and  of  which  I  speak,  is  that  of  the  cross, 
and  in  the  cross  itself. 

And,  now,  what  if  I  were  unable  to  account  for  this 
energy  ?  What  if  I  should  just  say,  that  there  is  an  electric 
chain  which  binds  our  ruined  race  to  the  wonderful  being 
who  hangs  there  in  our  likeness  ?  We  are  told  that  if  two 
lutes,  of  the  same  form,  and  tuned  exactly  in  unison,  be  in 
the  same  room,  and  one  be  struck  into  melody,  the  other, 
though  untouched  by  mortal  minstrelsy,  will  own  a  kindred 
sympathy,  and  give  out  soft  and  gentle  murmurs.  And  what 
if  I  should  only  tell  you  that  something  like  this  takes  plac^, ; 
—  that  when  Jesus  Christ  assumed  our  form,  and  entered  this 
world,  and  was  smitten  for  us,  there  was  a  mystery  in  his 
pangs  which  should  forever  cause  the  sensibilities  of  human 
hearts  to  vibrate,  and  waken  the  play  of  feelings  tender  and 
unearthly  ?  What  if  I  should  use  the  idea  of  an  apostle,  and 
say,  that,  in  becoming  man,  Jesus  Christ  took  not  on  him  the 
individual,  but  the  nature  ;  and  that  —  as  by  this  assumption 
he  finished  an  atonement  sufficient  for  the  whole  world,  and 
became  in  this  sense  "  the  Saviour  of  all  men,"  and  the  sins 
of  all  thronged,  and  crowded,  and  gathered,  and  pressed,  in 
crushing  and  excruciating  weight,  upon  the  sufferer  —  so,  by 


196  THE    CROSS. 

the  same  union,  there  goes  forth,  —  there  is  sent  back  and 
abroad  and  into  men's  souls,  wherever  a  crucified  Redeemer 
is  preached  among  them,  —  an  effluence,  a  sensation,  a  sym- 
pathy, thrilling  and  irresistible?  What  if  I  should  only 
say  this  —  and  the  Scriptures  would  bear  me  out  —  it  were 
enough. 

But,  really,  my  brethren,  all  mystery  apart,  is  it  strange 
that  the  cross  is  invested  with  a  power  to  rouse  and  shake  the 
soul  ?  Strange !  is  not  the  marvel  this  —  not  that  men  are 
moved  —  but  that  all  are  not  instantly  melted  and  subdued  by 
it  ?  Why,  let  men  be  only  men,  let  them  only  have  pulses 
that  beat  and  hearts  that  throb,  and  this  simple  announce- 
ment, "  God  so  loved  the  worlds  that  he  gave  his  only  begotten 
son,  that  whosoever  helieveth  on  him  should  not  'perish,  hut 
have  everlasting  life  "  —  O  !  the  very  thought  is  colossal,  it  is 
overmastering,  and  language  droops  under  it  —  tell  me,  can 
this  be  received  with  coldness  and  indifference  ?  is  it  suppos- 
able,  is  it  possible  ?  And,  then,  the  amazing  consummation  — 
the  Deed  !  the  Deed !  the  Deed  !  the  tragedy  of  which  this 
earth  was  the  theatre,  while  angels  gazed  confounded,  and  the 
hierarchies  of  heaven  bent  from  their  seats  in  silent  aston- 
ishment, and  Deity  itself,  I  had  almost  said,  must  for  once 
have  been  absorbed,  for  once  have  had  all  its  universal 
regards  and  expatiations  arrested,  and  fixed,  and  concen- 
trated,—  that  deed  —  that  spectacle  —  can  that  be  viewed 
with  apathy  ? 

What!  my  brethren,  that  "the  Word  was  made  flesh" — 
that  "  the  Ancient  of  days  "  was  cradled  as  an  infant  —  that 
He,  "by  whom  and  for  whom  all  things  were  created," 
stooped  to  poverty  and  shame  ;  —  are  these  things  to  be  heard 
and  to  have  no  influence  ?  That,  for  us  men  and  our  sal- 
vation, "  the  brightness  of  the  Father's  glory,"  he  who 
"  thought  it  no  robbery  to  be  equal  with  God,"  emptied  him- 
self, and  took  upon  him  "  the  form  of  a  servant,"  and  termi- 
noted  upon  a  gibbet  a  life  of  pain,  and  tears,  and  blood,  —  O 
Jesus !  IS  THIS  TRUE  ?  Can  I  believe  this  and  be  unmoved  ? 
Can  this  fail  to  bow  my  soul,  and  wipe  out  every  record  from 
my  heart,  and  live  there  alone,  the  one,  single,  all-controlling 
impression,  stamped  in  to  the  very  core,  and  moulding  every 
fibre  to  itself?  Who  is  surprised  at  what  a  distinguished 
missionary  relates  ?  He  was  sent  among  the  Indians,  and  he 
preached  to  them  with  all  his  earnestness,  of  God,  his  power, 
his  grandeur,  and  his  glory ;  but  they  turned  away  and  laughed 


THE   CROSS.  197 

at  him.  Why,  they  had  heard  far  nobler  sermons  on  these 
subjects  than  man  could  utter.  They  had  sat  down  by  day 
amid  the  wild  pomp  of  their  mountains,  and  the  sublime 
silence  of  their  forests ;  and  at  night  had  looked  up  at  the 
pavement  of  unfading  fire  above  their  heads.  They  had  lis- 
tened to  the  rushing  of  the  cataract,  — "  deep  calling  unto 
deep," —  and  to  the  music  of  the  tempest,  and  the  cry  of  the 
hurricane.  Before  their  eyes  the  lightning's  fiery  flood  had 
rifted  the  sturdy  oak ;  and  hoarse  and  strong  had  thundered 
on  beneath  them  the  might  of  the  earthquake.  They  had 
heard  these  preach,  and  they  preached  of  God  in  tones  which 
mocked  the  puny  articulations  of  human  eloquence.  And 
now,  that  the  white  man  should  come  to  tell  them  that  there 
is  a  God,  and  that  this  God  is  great,  and  powerful,  and  glori- 
ous ....  they  spurned  at  him  in  hardness  and  derision. 
Baffled  in  his  first  eflbrt,  the  missionary  changed  his  address, 
and  proclaimed  a  crucified  Jesus.  He  opened  his  Bible,  and 
read  to  them  those  words  "  God  so  loved  the  world  that  he 
gave  his  only  begotten  Son  that  whosoever  believeth  in  him 
should  not  peidsh  but  have  everlasting  life  " — "  God  spared 
not  his  own  Son  but  delivered  him  up  for  us  all."  Nor  did 
he  preach  in  vain  now.  The  gaze  of  his  audience  was  at 
once  fastened.  They  were  astonished  at  the  doctrine,  and 
their  hearts  were  at  once  touched.  As  the  speaker  went  on 
with  "  the  faithful  saying  and  worthy  of  all  acceptation,"  as 
he  led  them  from  scene  to  scene  of  the  Saviour's  humiliation 
and  sorrow, —  from  the  manger  to  the  garden,  and  from  the 
garden  to  the  judgment  hall  —  smothered  sobs  and  murmurs 
began  to  be  heard ;  until  at  last,  when  he  brought  them  to  the 
cross,  and  showed  them,  nailed  there,  the  abused  and  suffering 
Son  of  God,  and  said, — "  All  this  for  you, — these  tears,  these 
groans,  this  blood  for  you  ! " — the  poor  savages  could  refrain 
no  longer ;  they  had  stood  all  else,  but  they  could  not  stand 
this :  they  exclaimed  "  Is  this  true  F  Is  this  true  ?  "  and  lifted 
up  their  voices  and  wept  aloud. 

Sirs,  sirs,  men  call  me  an  enthusiast,  but  I  ask  you  is^^not 
enthusiasm  cold  common  sense  here  ?  "  What  a  pity,"  cried 
the  Roman,  "  that  we  have  but  one  life  for  our  country." 
Which  of  you  but  exclaims  this  night,  what  a  pity  we  have 
not  a  thousand  hearts  for  such  a  Saviour  —  a  thousand  hearts, 
and  every  one  of  them  a  holocaust,  a  whole  burnt  offering,  a 
sacred  conflagration  of  gratitude  and  devotion. 

Nor  is  it  only  the  overcoming  fact  of  the  humiliation  and 
17* 


198  THE    CROSS. 

crucifixion  of  the  Son  of  God  that  gives  such  power  to  the 
cross.  From  it  what  overwhelming  truths  flash  out  on  a 
guilty  world,  as  from  a  blazing,  focal,  radiating  central-point. 
The  cross !  what  an  exhibition  does  it  give  of  the  value  of 
the  soul !  The  cross !  what  an  admonition  there  of  the  mis- 
eries of  the  damned  !  Devouring  flames,  chains  of  darkness, 
bowlings  of  despair,  I  need  you  not  —  the  cross  where  Jesus 
bleeds  to  save  us  gives  me  a  more  terrific  idea  of  hell  than 
you  can.  The  cross !  what  an  awful  lustre  does  it  pour  upon 
the  justice,  the  holiness,  and  the  severity  of  God !  Above  all, 
the  love  of  God  —  how  dazzlingly,  with  what  surpassing 
brightness,  does  not  that  shine  there  —  sending  a  heavenly 
effulgence  all  over  this  dark  world,  down  even  to  the  gates  of 
hell !  I  ask  again,  can  this  cross  be  viewed  with  indifference  ? 
Is  it  strange  that  the  cross  has  power  to  rouse  and  stir  the 
heart  ?  Is  not  this  the  wonder,  not  that  men  are  shaken,  but 
that  all  are  not  melted  and  mastered  by  the  very  first  announce- 
ment of  a  crucified  Redeemer ;  and  that  whenever  and  wher- 
ever this  truth  is  proclaimed,  the  scenes  of  Pentecost  are  not 
renewed,  and  the  place  is  not  a  Bochim,  drenched  with  burst- 
ing tears  rained  thickly  out  of  full  hearts  ?  A  philosopher, 
and  not  of  the  worst  school  either,  has  declared  "  it  is  im- 
possible to  love  God."  For  my  part,  when  I  look  at  the 
cross,  I  say  how  is  it  possible  not  to  love  God ;  not  to  call, 
with  the  Psalmist,  upon  heaven  and  earth,  upon  our  souls  and 
all  within  us,  to  love  and  praise  Him ;  and,  with  Andrew 
Fuller,  to  find  our  hearts  forever  breaking  out  into  unknown 
strains  of  love,  and  our  lips  —  go  where  we  will  —  still  sing- 
ing 

"0  for  this  love  let  rocks  and  hills 

Their  lasting  silence  break, 
And  all  harmonious  human  tongues 

The  Saviour's  praises  speak? " 

I  ought  now,  my  brethren,  to  enter  upon  our  last  article, 
and,  having  exhibited  the  cross  as  an  argument  and  a  motive, 
to  present  it  in  its  most  glorious  aspect,  as  the  wonder-working 
power  of  God  in  converting  and  saving  the  vilest.  I  am  not 
ashamed,  however,  to  confess  that  I  have  undertaken  too 
much.  Ashamed !  if  Paul,  if  Gabriel  were  in  this  pulpit, 
they  would  make  the  same  confession.  I  have  no  ability  to 
execute  what  I  proposed,  and  were  I  foolish  enough  to  make 
the  attempt,  a  failure  would  not  only  be  inevitable,  but  I 
should  glory  in  it.    "  Young  man,"  replied  a  great  poet  to  one 


THE   CROSS.  199 

who  asked  him,  "  What  is  genius  ? '' — "  young  man,  if  you 
have  never  felt  it,  I  cannot  tell  you  what  it  is."  But  if  this 
be  true  of  the  inspirations  of  genius,  with  how  much  greater 
truth  may  I  affirm,  as  to  the  transforming  omnipotence  of  the 
cross,  that  those  of  you  who  know  it  not  by  experience,  can 
never  comprehend  it  by  explanation.  Say  what  I  might, 
Christ  crucified,  while  it  is  "  unto  them  that  are  called,  the 
power  of  God,  and  the  wisdom  of  God,"  will  be  "  to  the  Jews 
a  stumbling  block,  and  to  the  Greeks  foolishness  ; "  and,  after 
all,  you  would  only  exclaim,  "Ah,  Lord  God,  doth  he  not  speak 
parables  ?  "  Any  terms  I  might  use,  although  the  very  phrase- 
ology of  the  Bible,  would  be  to  the  men  of  the  world  among 
you,  only  a  mystical  and  unintelligible  jargon.  And  to  you, 
my  brethren,  what  could  I  say,  which  you  would  not  feel  had 
been  better  left  unsaid  ?  I  was  much  affected,  not  long  since, 
in  a  distant  city,  by  the  words  of  an  humble  individual.  We 
were  receiving  him  into  the  church,  and  he  was  telling  us, 
as  well  as  he  could,  in  his  homely  but  strong  language,  of  the 
change  wrought  in  him.  At  length  he  stopped,  and,  looking 
at  me  with  a  countenance  expressive  of  the  deepest  emotion, 
observed,  "  Sir,  I  cannot  speak  what  I  feel ;  God,  sir,  has  not 
given  a  poor  man  like  me  the  power  to  talk  of  this  thing." 
My  brethren,  this  is  all  I  can  say  on  our  present  article,  God 
has  not  given  a  poor  man  like  me  the  power  to  talk  on  this 
thing.  It  is  this,  my  hearers,  which  makes  the  cross  what  it 
is  —  this,  which  gives  it  an  efficacy  imperial  and  peerless  — 
this,  that  it  is  not  only  a  demonstration  to  convince  the  mind, 
and  a  talisman  to  kindle  the  heart,  but  "  the  power  of  God  " 
to  the  salvation  of  the  soul.  Here  is  the  great  thing,  the 
grand  attraction,  the  might,  the  majesty,  the  sweet  though 
awful  mystery  of  the  cross.  But  here  is  just  the  thing  that 
passeth  man  and  angel.  I  say  again,  and  the  more  I  think 
the  more  I  repeat  it,  what  can  mortal  utterance  do  here  ? 
Where  among  you  is  the  Christian  who  has  not  anticipated 
my  remark,  that  this  topic  must  be  felt,  and  is  matter  for  faith, 
not  speculation. 

That  for  a  lost  world  there  is  but  one  remedy,  and  this  a 
specific,  we  know.  We  know  that  where  Christ  crucified  is 
not  preached,  nothing  is  done  for  eternity.  Much  there  may 
be  of  sublimity  and  beauty  in  the  orations  of  the  pulpit ;  but 
if  Christ  crucified  be  not  there  —  while  the  imagination  may 
be  entertained  —  all  will  be  to  the  soul  only  the  beauty  of 
frost,  and  the  sublimity  of  the  desert.     This  we  know.     But 


200  THE    CROSS. 

how  the  cross  exerts  this  power  in  conversion,  who  can  ex- 
plain ?  The  emblem  of  the  brazen  serpent  teaches  us  that 
the  influence  is  inscrutable ;  and  what  can  we  say  but  this, 
that  the  cross  is  God's  appointment  to  do  this  thing, —  it  is 
God's  ordinance  to  do  this  thing.  Look  at  Saul  of  Tarsus  ! 
What  aileth  him  there  at  the  gate  of  Damascus  ?  What  is 
this  internal  and  spiritual  revelation  of  a  crucified  Saviour, 
("  in  me,"  as  he  says,)  which  in  a  moment  transfixes  that  proud 
and  haughty  fire-soul,  and  beats  him  to  the  ground,  and 
wrings  from  him  the  cry,  "  Lord,  what  wilt  thou  have  me  to 
do ; "  and,  rivetting  his  gaze  on  a  single  object,  sends  him 
through  the  world  exclaiming,  "  God  forbid  that  I  should 
glory  save  in  the  cross  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ ; " —  who 
can  tell  what  this  is  ?  Go  to  Corinth !  What  is  this  power 
at  work  in  the  church  there,  which,  while  the  cross  is  lifted 
up,  cleaves  the  bosom  of  that  stranger  who  has  come  into  the 
assembly,  perhaps  through  curiosity,  perhaps  to  scoff,  and  causes 
that  unbelieving  man  to  fall  upon  his  face,  awed,  struck  down 
by  the  manifestation  to  himself  of  the  secrets  of  his  heart,  and 
there  to  worship,  and  adore,  and,  departing  thence,  to  proclaim 
the  presence  of  Jehovah  in  the  congregation  ?  Who  can  ex- 
plain this  ?  And  who  can  say  what  is  that  mystery  which,  at  a 
single  look,  can  soften  and  disarm  the  most  inveterate  enmity ; 
can  unlock,  as  with  a  key  —  a  spell,  the  soul,  and  untwist  all 
the  links  which  chain  it  in  icy  hardness,  and  break  up  all  the 
springs  and  deep  fountains  of  tenderness,  and  penitence,  and 
love,  and  cause  men  to  "  look  on  him  whom  they  have  pierced 
and  mourn  as  one  mourneth  for  an  only  son,  and  be  in  bitter- 
ness as  one  who  is  in  bitterness  for  his  first-born  ?"  What  is 
all  this?  I  know  not.  It  is  a  subject,  not  for  discussion,  but 
adoration.  My  brethren,  I  know  not ;  I  only  say,  "  not  of  the 
will  of  the  flesh,  nor  of  the  will  of  man,  but  of  God."  I  know 
not ;  I  only  know,  (hosannas  to  God  for  this  !  O,  cross,  cross 
of  my  bleeding  Lord,  may  I  meditate  on  thee  more,  may  I 
feel  thee  more,  may  I  resolve  to  know  nothing  but  thee,)  I 
only  know  it  is  so.  "  Then  he  stood  awhile,  and  looked,  and 
wondered,  for  it  seemed  surprising  that  the  sight  of  a  cross 
should  so  affect  him.  He  looked,  therefore,  and  looked  again, 
until  the  springs  in  his  head  sent  the  waters  down  his  cheeks." 
Such  is  the  simple,  but  beautiful  language  of  Bunyan  —  lan- 
guage that  finds  an  echo  in  many  a  heart  here  ;  and  I  have 
only  to  wave  my  hand  thus,  for  hundreds  in  this  house  to 
stand  up  and  tell,  with  starting  tears,  of  this  mystery,  this 


THE    CROSS.  201 

unsearchable  wonder  of  the  cross.  Nor  only  you.  Thousands 
in  other  lands,  thousands  of  the  heathen,  who  were  yesterday 
enveloped  in  guilt  and  wretchedness,  are  to-day  telling  of  this 
power  of  the  cross,  and  looking,  and  wondering,  and  looking 
again,  until  their  swelling  hearts  run  over,  and  the  floods  roll 
down  their  cheeks.  Yes,  O  yes,  thou  wondrous  cross !  and 
might  a  sinner  who  cannot  preach  of  thee,  be  permitted  to 
testify,  I  too,  O  my  God,  ("  my  soul  hath  it  still  in  remem- 
brance and  is  humbled  in  me,")  I  too,  unworthy  as  I  am, 
could  speak. 

"  In  evil  long  I  took  delight, 
Unawed  by  shame  or  fear, 
Till  a  new  object  struck  my  sight, 
And  stopped  my  wild  career. 

I  saw  one  hanging  on  a  tree 

In  agony  and  blood. 
Who  fixed  his  dying  eyes  on  me 

As  near  his  cross  I  stood. 

Sure  never  till  my  latest  breath 

Can  I  forget  that  look. 
It  seemed  to  charge  me  with  his  death. 

Though  not  a  word  he  spoke. 

My  conscience  felt  and  owned  the  guilt, 

And  filled  me  with  despair, 
I  saw  my  sins  his  blood  had  spilt. 

And  helped  to  nail  him  there. 

Alas,  I  knew  not  what  I  did. 

But  now  my  tears  are  vain ; 
Where  can  my  trembling  soul  be  hid  ? 

For  I  the  Lord  have  slain. 

Another  look  he  gave  which  said, 

I  freely  all  forgive ; 
This  blood  is  for  thy  ransom  paid, 

I  die  that  thou  mayest  hve." 

My  Fathers,  and  Brethren,  and  Friends,  I  have  finished, 
though  all  feebly,  the  discussion  of  the  text.  I  am  afraid  I 
have  detained  you  too  long.  I  cannot  help  it,  however,  on 
such  a  theme  as  the  cross  of  Jesus.  In  eternity,  we  shall 
wonder  how  we  could  ever  have  begun  to  talk  of  any  thing 
else,  or  have  ceased  talking  of  this  after  we  had  begun.  It 
rests  now  with  ourselves  not  to  allow  the  subject  to  be  without 
fruit,  but  to  derive  from  it  the  lessons  it  imparts.     The  words 


209  TH£    CROSS. 

upon  which  we  have  been  meditating  are  not  isolated.  They 
are  selected  from  a  passage  which  portrays  as  formidable  in- 
deed the  engagement  before  us,  the  struggle  to  which  as  a 
body  we  are  pledged  and  enlisted.  "  Now,"  says  the  Saviour, 
"  is  the  judgment  of  this  world."  What  a  conflict !  Wher- 
ever, then,  superstition,  and  sin,  and  darkness  reign,  the  gos- 
pel is  to  confront  and  assail  them,  and  that,  too,  in  a  war  of 
extermination.  We  wage  with  "  the  rulers  of  the  darkness 
of  this  world  "  a  contest  glorious  indeed,  but  how  arduous  I 
Let  us  gird  ourselves  with  a  courage  worthy  of  such  a  cause ; 
and  wrestle,  and  strive,  and  strike,  like  men  who  feel  within 
them  celestial  promptings,  and  in  whose  ears  are  ringing  the 
acclamations  of  heaven,  and  the  shout  of  the  King  himself, 
"  the  high  calling  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus."  It  was  said  of 
Julius  Csesar,  '^JEodem  animo  scripsit  quo  bellavit" — "He 
wrote  with  as  much  spirit  as  he  fought."  Let  the  converse 
of  this  be  true  as  to  us.  Let  us  fight  with  as  much  spirit  as 
we  write  and  speak  and  pass  resolutions,  and  what  shall  we 
not  accomplish  !  Nor  is  the  warfare  a  doubtful  one.  "  Now," 
the  Redeemer  adds,  shall  the  prince  of  this  world  be  cast  out." 
Where  this  gospel  goes,  Satan's  throne  is  broken,  his  kingdom 
subverted,  and  a  blow  dealt  which  resounds  throughout  the 
borders  of  his  dominions.  How  much  has  already  been  ac- 
complished, and  how  swiftly,  even  while  I  speak,  prophecy  is 
leaping  into  fulfilment,  you  require  not  me  to  say.  What 
hath  not  God  already  wrought !  Beneath  the  stormy  tides 
and  agitated  elements  of  passion,  how,  age  after  age,  hath  a 
strong  and  pure  under-current  been  silently  propelling  the 
enterprise  of  heaven.  What  changes  have  not  been  already 
effected  by  the  simple  ministry  of  the  truth  —  changes  more 
astonishing  than  all  the  revolutions  achieved  by  fleets  and 
armies !  And  now,  this  day,  every  wave  rolls  and  every 
wind  wafts  us  the  news  of  fresh  and  glorious  conquests  by 
our  Emanuel  "riding  prosperously  because  of  truth  and 
meekness  and  righteousness."  This  is  one  lesson  to  be  de- 
rived from  our  subject. 

But,  my  brethren  —  while  by  the  whole  passage  we  are 
taught  this  lesson,  while  we  are  instructed  there  as  to  the 
combat  to  which  we  are  championed,  and  hear  there  the  cry 
to  battle  pealing  out  from  the  gospel  of  peace,  to  battle  for 
truth,  and  man,  and  God,  and  hail  there  the  certain  triumph  — 
let  us  fix  our  eyes  intently  upon  the  text  as  the  cynosure  of  our 
hopes,  and  learn  from  that  what  is  the  only  engine  by  which 


THE    CROSS.  203 

we  can  conquer,  the  only  weapon  which  is  "  mighty  through 
God  to  the  pulling  down  of  strong  holds,"  —  I  mean  the  cross 
—  Christ  lifted  up  from  the  earth  to  draw  all  men  unto  him. 
"  Every  battle  of  the  warrior,"  says  Isaiah,  "  is  with  confused 
noise,  and  garments  rolled  in  blood ;  but  this  shall  be  with 
burning  and  fuel  of  fire."  ,  Only  the  silent,  melting,  subduing 
energy  of  the  cross  can  succeed.  Forget  this,  —  employ 
man's  wisdom,  —  and  defeat  awaits  us,  confusion  will  over- 
whelm us.  But  use  this  instrumentality,  and  before  its 
almightiness  Satan  shall  fall  from  heaven  like  lightning,  and 
there  can  stand  no  resistance,  there  shall  avail  no  enchant- 
ment of  earth,  no  stratagem,  no  divination  of  hell,  against 
Israel.  "  Let  the  heathen  rage,  and  the  kings  of  the  earth  set 
themselves,  and  the  rulers  take  counsel  together,  against  the 
Lord  and  against  his  anointed" — they  "imagine  a  vain 
thing,"  if  the  cross  be  there.  Let  the  banded  might  of  num- 
bers oppose  —  God  is  in  the  midst  of  us,  we  shall  not  be  mov- 
ed if  the  cross  be  there ;  "  the  Lord  of  hosts  is  with  us,  he 
will  be  exalted  among  the  heathen,  he  will  be  exalted  in  the 
earth.  "  In  a  word,  let  the  night,  which  like  a  pall  covers  a 
nation,  be  ever  so  thick  and  palpable  —  let  idolatry  oversha- 
dow a  people  until  it  sweeps,  with  its  dismal  train,  every  star 
from  out  their  sky  —  if  the  cross  go  there,  its  radiance  will 
pierce  the  gloom,  its  beams  will  dissipate  the  darkness.  This 
is  another  lesson  taught  by  the  subject.  Do  we  not  need  it, 
my  brethren  ?  Has  the  preaching  Christ  crucified  that  prom- 
inence in  our  modern  scheme  of  missionary  operations,  which 
it  had  in  the  system  of  the  apostles  ?  I  ask,  with  humility, 
are  we  sufficiently  imbued  with  this  lesson  ? 

And  are  we  sufficiently  mindful  of  another,  and  the  last  les- 
son I  notice  as  to  be  gathered  from  our  subject,  and  which 
more  particularly  regards  ourselves.  I  allude  to  the  neces- 
sity of  our  living  always  near  the  cross,  and  drinking  deeply 
and  perpetually  its  hallowing  inspirations.  Brethren,  that 
Christians  in  these  days  are  what,  alas,  most  of  us  are  —  that 
the  atonement  affects  us  so  feebly  —  is  owing,  not  to  that  atone- 
ment's being  now  too  common  a  topic,  but  to  our  contempla- 
ting it  too  little.  How  intense  —  still  and  soft  —  yet  severely, 
sublimely  intense,  is  the  efficacy  of  the  cross  of  Christ,  where 
its  entire,  unmutilated  influence  is  permitted.  For  my  part, 
says  the  Apostle,  "  I  am  crucified  by  it  to  the  world,  and  the 
world  to  me,"  —  it  "  constrains  me."  O,  let  it  crucify  us  ;  let 
it  constrain  us.     The  word  "  constrain  "  is,  in  the  original,  so 


204  THE    CROSS. 

powerfully  energetical,  so  ricli  in  expressiveness,  that  it  is 
difficult  to  decide  between  several  meanings,  all  equally  just 
and  beautiful.  Nor  am  I  going  to  decide.  I  choose  rather  to 
unite  them  all,  and  on  them  found  my  closing  exhortation. 

Does  the  term  often  signify  "  transport  ?  "  Let  us  adopt 
this  meaning,  and  then  let  the  cross  transport  us.  Hear  Paul, 
in  a  sort  of  ecstacy,  crying  out  "  If  any  man  love  not  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  let  him  be  anathema  maranatha."  Listen 
to  one  of  the  early  Christians  who  says,  "  to  me  it  seems  much 
more  bitter  to  offend  Christ  than  to  be  tormented  in  hell ; " 
and  to  another  who  declares,  "  I  say  the  truth,  if  on  one  hand 
I  saw  the  pains  of  hell,  and  on  the  other  the  horror  of  sinning 
against  the  love  of  Jesus,  and  I  must  be  plunged  in  one,  I 
would  choose  the  pains  of  hell,  —  I  could  never  sin  against 
this  love."  My  brethren,  you  are  perhaps  staggered  at  these 
exclamations ;  but  these  men  spake  just  what  they  felt.  They 
were  transported,  they  were  ravished,  they  were  "beside 
themselves  unto  God."  Apd  what  they  felt  we  should  feel ; 
there  are  holy  ecstacies  of  love  which  we  should  know.  If 
the  word  signify  "  transport,"  then  let  the  cross  transport  us. 

But  the  terms  mean  also  ^'surround  and  urge  on  every 
side,^'  Let  us  adopt  this  meaning,  and  then  let  the  love  of  a 
crucified  Saviour  surround  us.  Let  it  be  the  circumambient 
atmosphere  we  breathe,  and  in  which  our  souls  are  steeped ; 
the  all-penetrating,  all-pervading,  all-animating,  all-inflaming 
motive.  What  motive  like  this  to  kindle  our  languid  affec- 
tions ;  much  forgiven  and  yet  but  little  love  !  My  soul,  can 
this  be  possible  ?  What  motive  like  this  to  deracinate  the 
wretched  selfishness  of  our  nature ;  —  why  does  he  die  ?  why, 
but  that  "  they  who  live  should  live  no  more  to  themselves, 
but  to  him  who  gave  himself  for  them  ?"  Where  such  a  mo- 
tive to  fortify  us  with  holy  endurance  of  hardness  ?  Have  the 
members  any  thing  to  do  with  roses,  while  the  head  is  crown- 
ed with  thorns  ?  In  short,  what  an  incentive  here  to  the  no- 
blest charity.  "  Ye  know  the  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
that  though  he  was  rich,  yet  for  your  sakes  he  became  poor, 
that  ye  through  his  poverty  might  be  made  rich."  Do  ye 
know  this  grace  my  brethren  ?  do  ye  study  this  grace  ?  do  ye 
feel  this  grace  ?  Then  you  need  nothing  else  to  preach  chari- 
ty to  you.  Look  at  the  cross !  O  ye  that  hear  me  this  night, 
behold  the  man  !  behold  how  he  loves  you  !  there,  there  is'a 
charity  sermon  for  you !  Ah,  listen  to  it,  listen  to  it.  Give 
him   love  for  love,  charity  for  charity;  sacrifice  for  sacri- 


THE   CROSS.  205 

fice ;  heart  for  heart ;  give  him  every  thing,  for  he  gave 
more  than  every  thing  for  you.  Yes,  if  the  word  means 
"  surround,"  let  the  love  of  Christ  surround  us  ;  let  it  compass 
and  press  us  on  every  side  with  a  sweet  but  resistless  violence. 

Lastly,  the  import  of  the  term  may  be,  and  literally  is, 
"  Unite^^  Let  us  adopt  this  meaning,  and  then  let,  O !  let 
the  love  of  Christ  unite  us.  "  Who,"  asks  the  apostle,  "  shall 
separate  us  from  the  love  of  God  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus  our 
Lord?"  And  I  —  I  exclaim,  with  equal  confidence,  who, 
what,  shall  separate  us  from  each  other,  united  as  we  are  by 
this  love  ?  What  shall  separate  us  ?  Shall  persecution  ? 
No,  that  will  only  bind  us  closer.  Shall  the  feuds  by  which 
in  this  world  society  is  torn,  and  even  members  of  the  same 
family  armed  and  exasperated  against  each  other  —  sectional 
jealousies,  and  political  rancor,  and  party  malignity  ?  No,  the 
cross  which  lifted  the  Saviour  from  the  earth,  lifts  us  high 
above  these  petty  tumults  and  distractions.  What  then  ?  — 
what  shall  separate  us  ?  Internal  strife,  intestine  dissension  ? 
God  forbid.  No,  my  brethren,  I  am  persuaded  better  things 
of  you.  No,  never,  never,  never ;  it  cannot  be.  No,  by  our 
common  toils  and  sufferings  as  Baptists;  by  the  venerable 
men  who  sang  together  over  the  cradle  of  this  convention  — 
those  whose  reverend  forms  I  still  see  lingering  fondly  here  — 
and  those  who  this  night,  it  is  no  presumption  to  believe,  are 
beholding  us  with  ineffable  concern  even  from  their  thrones  in 
glory ;  by  the  blood  which  cements  us,  and  the  new  command- 
ment written  in  that  blood ;  by  the  memory  and  love  of  him 
who  hath  bound  us  together  with  ties  indissoluble  and  eternal, 
and  who  is  now  in  our  midst,  shewing  his  wounds,  his  hands, 
his  feet,  his  side,  his  head,  and  saying,  "  as  I  have  loved  you 
even  so  ought  ye  to  love  one  another ;  "  by  all  the  glorious  re- 
collections of  the  past,  and  by  all  the  more  glorious  anticipations 
of  the  future  —  this  must  not,  will  not,  shall  not,  cannot  be. 

But  my  heart  is  too  full.  I  must  stop.  My  tears  will  not 
allow  me  to  say  many  things  I  had  wished  to  say.  My  feel- 
ings choke  my  utterance.  Let  me  only  repeat  the  Apostle's 
words  —  "  The  love  of  Christ  constraineth  us."  Let  me  only 
renew  the  exhortation,  Get  nearer  the  cross.  Live  nearer  the 
cross.  Then  no  discord  can  interrupt  our  union,  no  trouble- 
some birds  of  prey  disconcert  our  sacrifice.  "Now  there 
stood  by  the  cross  of  Jesus  his  mother,  and  his  mother's  sister, 
Mary  the  wife  of  Cleophas,  and  Mary  Magdalene,"  —  let  us 
take  our  stand  there  too,  and  we  shall  never  want  zeal,  we 
18 


206  *HE   CROSS.  * 

can  never  lack  devotion  to  the  Saviour,  and  love  for  each 
other.  Nor  is  it  long  that  we  have  to  he  here,  and  to  do  for 
Jesus.  Where  is  Crawford  ?  I  seek  in  vain  for  his  familiar 
face  among  you.  Where  is  Knowles  ?  It  seems  to  me  but 
yesterday  that  I  was  addressing  many  of  you,  and  he  was 
there  —  his  countenance  beaming  with  intelligence  and  affec- 
tion. Where  is  he  now  ?  I  look  around,  but  I  miss  him  to- 
night. And  to-morrow,  my  Brothers  and  Fathers,  where 
shall  you  and  I  be  ?  To-morrow  we,  too,  shall  be  missed.  To- 
morrow the  place  that  knows  us  shall  know  us  no  more. 
To-morrow  we  shall  die,  and  the  august  throne  shall  be  piled 
for  judgment,  and  we  ourselves  be  standing  at  the  foot  of  the 
awful  tribunal.  Let  us  act  in  view  of  that  hour.  Let  us  lis- 
ten to  the  voice  which  comes  to  each  of  us  this  night  from 
heaven,  "Be  thou  faithful  unto  death,  and  I  will  give  thee  a 
crown  of  life."  My  brethren,  my  very  dear  brethren,  have 
we  been  faithful?  Each  of  us  can  say,  "  I  know  whom  I  have 
bedieved,  and  that  he  will  keep  that  which  I  have  committed 
to  him  against  that  day."  Can  Jesus  say,  as  to  each  of  us,  I 
know  whom  I  have  believed,  and  that  he  has  been  faithful  to 
the  trust  which  I  have  committed  to  him  ?  O,  let  not  the  sin 
of  perfidy  rest  longer  upon  us.  Let  not  neglected  duties  and 
broken  vows  cry  longer  to  heaven  against  us.  Let  not  our 
works  be  longer  "  found  unperfected  before  God." 

"  Christians,  view  the  day 
Of  Ketribution  !    Think  how  ye  will  bear 
From  your  Kedeemer's  lips  the  fearful  words, 
'  Thy  brother,  perishing  in  his  own  blood, 
Thou  saw'st.  —  Thy  brother  hungered,  was  athirst, 
"Was  naked,  —  and  thou  saw'st  it.    He  was  sick, 
Thou  didst  withhold  the  healing ;  was  in  prison 
To  vice  and  ignorance  —  nor  didst  thou  send 
To  set  him  free.'     Oh  !  ere  that  hour  of  doom, 
Whence  there  is  no  reprieve,  brethren,  awake 
From  this  dark  dream. 

"The  time  of  hope 
And  of  probation  speeds  on  rapid  wings 
Swift  and  retumless.     What  thou  hast  to  do 
Do  with  thv  might.    Haste,  lift  aloud  thy  voice, 
And  publish  to  the  borders  of  the  pit 

The  Kesurrection Then,  when  the  ransomed  come 

With  gladness  unto  Zion,  thou  shalt  joy 
To  hear  the  valleys  and  the  hills  break  forth 
Before  them  into  singing ;  thou  shalt  join 
The  raptured  strain,  exulting  that  the  Lord 
Jehovan,  God  omnipotent,  doth  reign 
O'er  all  the  earth." 


THE    CROSS.  207 

Even  so,  Amen.  O  God  the  Father,  hasten  that  time! 
O  Holy  Ghost,  inspire  us  with  something  worthy  of  the  name 
of  zeal  in  such  a  cause !  O  Glorious  Shiloh,  unto  thee  let 
"  the  gathering  of  the  people  be ! "  Let  thy  kingdom  come  ! 
"  For  thine  is  the  kingdom,  and  thine  the  greatness,  and  the 
power,  and  the  glory,  and  the  victory,  and  the  majesty  —  all 
that  is  in  the  heaven  and  in  the  earth  is  thine  —  thine  is  the 
kingdom,  O  Lord,  and  thou  art  exalted  as  head  over  all  —  and 
blessed  be  thy  holy  name,  and  let  the  whole  earth  be  filled 
with  thy  glory.    Amen,  and  Amen." 


THE   GOSPEL  ADAPTED  TO  THE   WANTS   OF 
THE  WORLD. 

BY 

REV.  NATHAN  S.  S.  BEMAN,  D.  D. 

His  name  shall  endure  for  ever  :  his  name  shaU  be  continued  as  long  as  the  sun  :  and 
men  shaU  be  blessed  in  him  :  all  nations  shaU  caU  him  blessed.  —  Psalm  72  :  17. 

This  divine  song  has  a  primary  reference  to  the  kingdom 
of  Solomon,  the  son  of  David ;  but  was  intended,  at  the  same 
time,  to  typify  the  kingdom  of  Jesus  Christ,  David's  more  ex- 
alted son.  With  this  single  explanatory  remark,  I  would  leave 
the  general  structure  of  the  Psalm,  and  the  exposition  of  its 
various  parts,  to  your  own  reflections.  The  passage  to  which 
I  particularly  invite  your  attention,  asserts  the  extent  and 
duration  of  the  reign  of  Jesus  Christ  upon  the  earth,  and  pre- 
sents a  glowing  picture  of  its  prosperity  and  happiness.  In 
relation  to  its  extent,  it  is  to  embrace  "  all  nations,"  and  in . 
duration,  it  "  shall  be  continued  as  long  as  the  sun."  In 
other  words,  the  kingdom  of  Jesus  Christ  —  the  Gospel 
kingdom  —  shall  embrace  all  the  nations  of  the  earth,  and 
endure,  with  undiminished  power  and  glory,  while  the  world 
itself  shall  stand.  It  is  clearly  asserted,  too,  that  the  happi- 
ness of  the  human  family  will  be  greatly  increased  under  the 
predicted  reign  of  the  Son  of  God.  "  Men  shall  be  blessed  in 
him  :  all  nations  shall  call  him  blessed." 

Nothing  can  be  more  obvious  than  that  this  prediction 
asserts,  that  the  religion  of  the  Gospel  will  hereafter  become, 
and  will  continue  to  be,  the  prevailing  religion  of  our  world. 
This  fact  is  fully  settled  in  the  Bible.  It  was,  for  ages,  the 
grand  theme  of  the  Old  Testament  prophets  —  and  the  truths 
which  they  committed,  in  strains  of  exalted  poetry,  to  the 
sacred  lyre,  have  been  taken  up  and  expounded  with  such 
clearness  by  their  New  Testament  successors  —  by  the  Son 
of  God  and  his  apostles  — that  not  a  shadow  of  a  doubt  can 


THE    GOSPEL    ADAPTED    TO    THE    WANTS,   ETC.        209 

rest  upon  their  import.  The  same  fact,  that  is,  that  Christ- 
ianity will  become  the  religion  of  the  world,  might  be  inferred, 
with  equal  certainty,  from  the  admission,  that  God  is  its 
Author,  that  he  had  a  grand  design  to  accomplish  by  the 
Gospel,  or  that  the  Bfble  contains  a  revelation  from  heaven. 

But,  waving  these  considerations,  there  is  another  important 
truth,  intimately  associated  with  the  universal  spread  of  the 
Gospel,  to  which  I  would  invite  your  attention  on  the  present 
occasion.  The  truth  to  which  I  refer  is  this  :  that  the  reli- 
gion of  the  Bible  is  adapted,  in  its  nature,  to  become  the 
exclusive  religion  of  our  world.  This  sentiment,  it  is  appre- 
hended, is  more  than  intimated  in  the  text.  Jesus  Christ, 
the  appointed  King  of  Zion,  shall  not  only  reign  as  long  as 
the  sun  shall  shine  upon  the  earth,  but  "  men  shall  be  blessed 
in  him  :  all  nations  shall  call  him  blessed."  The  Gospel  is 
adapted  to  man  as  such  —  to  all  men.  It  contemplates,  not 
a  specific  class  or  order  of  men,  but  man  in  the  large  and 
generic  sense.  The  Son  of  God  has  "  received  gifts  for 
MEN."  His  empire  embraces  and  secures  the  best  interests  of 
our  fallen  race.  "  Men  shall  be  blessed  in  him."  "  All 
nations  shall  call  him  blessed."  The  Gospel  is  adapted,  not 
to  the  Jew  nor  to  the  Gentile  alone ;  not  to  the  civiHzed 
nor  to  the  barbarous  exclusively  —  but  to  "  all  nations."  And 
one  nation  after  another,  under  the  agencies  which  God  has 
ordained,  shall  welcome  the  Gospel,  as  adapted  to  their  com- 
mon circumstances  and  their  common  wants,  till  an  entire 
world  of  nations  shall  mingle  their  voices  and  send  up  the 
homage  of  their  hearts  in  one  universal  song. 

The  single  sentiment  I  shall  attempt  to  illustrate  is  this  : 
The  religion  of  the  Bible  is  adapted,  in  its  nature,  to  become 
the  exclusive  religion  of  our  world. 

1.  It  is  accommodated  to  every  stage  of  human  society. 

I  shall  not  here  enter  upon  any  nice  speculations  respect- 
ing the  natural  state  of  man,  considered  merely  as  an  intel- 
lectual and  social  being ;  nor  attempt  to  settle  the  question, 
whether  that  state  is  savage  or  civilized.  The  apostacy  of 
our  race  occupies  so  early  a  page  in  the  history  of  the  world, 
that  it  may  be  difficult  for  us  even  to  picture  to  ourselves, 
with  any  degree  of  certainty,  what  our  condition  would  have 
been,  as  it  regards  social  habits,  intellectual  progress,  or  the 
arts  of  cultivated  life,  had  sin  never  marred  this  once  lovely 
heritage  of  God.  What  is  now  called  the  state  of  nature  — 
the  wild  and  savage  state,  to  which  we  may  easily  trace  back 
18* 


210  .  THE   GOSPEL   ADAPTED 

the  most  refined  and  polished  nations  —  would  probably 
never  have  existed  ;  and  the  more  elevated  conditions  of 
society,  which  are  now  altogether  adventitious,  and  which  are 
superinduced  by  much  care  and  culture,  might  have  been 
perfectly  natural  to  man.  But  these  speculations  apart,  it  is 
sufficient  for  my  present  purpose  to  refer  you  to  the  social 
condition  of  nations  as  it  is,  and  remind  you  of  the  diversified 
forms  of  human  society,  which  the  world  actually  presents. 
These  are  not  less  marked  and  various  than  the  geographical 
surface  of  different  countries,  or  than  personal  form,  the  color 
of  the  skin,  or  the  features  of  the  human  face. 

A  single  glance  at  the  world  as  it  is,  and  this  the  intel- 
ligent eye  has  already  taken,  will  save  the  speaker  the  neces- 
sity of  entering  into  detail.  We  have  on  the  surface  of  this 
globe  a  population  almost  infinitely  diversified ;  the  polished 
European,  and  his  descendants  not  less  elevated,  in  almost 
every  land  ;  the  wild  Arab,  the  wandering  Tartar,  the  inert 
southern  Asiatic,  the  bigoted  Jew,  the  proud  and  self-confident 
Turk,  the  fierce  cannibal  of  Australia,  the  debased  Hottentot, 
the  ignorant  Greenlander,  and  the  rude  and  savage  tenant  of 
our  own  native  forests ;  —  and  these  furnish  but  a  mere  speci- 
men of  the  human  race.  Nations  differ  in  almost  every 
thing  —  in  their  modes  of  obtaining  a  livelihood,  in  civiliza- 
tion and  intellectual  culture,  in  moral  habits  and  religious 
rites. 

But  the  Gospel  makes  an  appeal  which  men,  in  ail  these 
diversified  national  circumstances,  are  capable  of  feeling. 
This  appeal  they  have  felt.  In  the  days  of  the  apostles,  the 
truth  of  God  overleaped  the  frame-work  of  national  caste, 
and  evinced,  in  every  land  where  its  truths  were  announced, 
its  power  to  save.  And  facts  of  the  same  character  are  inter- 
woven with  the  whole  history  of  modern  missions.  Such 
have  been  the  triumphs  of  the  Gospel  in  our  day,  that  the 
foolishness  of  infidelity,  which  has  loudly  asserted  that  Christ- 
ianity cannot  be  propagated  among  the  nations  who  differ  in 
their  habits  and  religions  from  those  who  have  long  been 
under  the  influence  of  this  system,  has  been  rebuked  and  put 
to  silence.  The  religion  of  the  Bible  is  just  such  a  scheme 
as  is  demanded,  in  order  to  accomplish  the  great  objects 
which  it  proposes.  As  it  is  designed  for  a  world,  so  it  is 
suited  to  the  exigencies  of  a  world.  It  has  a  universality  of 
purpose,  and  a  universality  of  character,  in  order  to  carry  out 
and  perfect  that  purpose.     It  takes  the  world  as  it  is,  and 


*rO  THE  WANTS  OF  THE  WORLD.         211 

goes  about  the  work  of  making  it  better.  It  can  reach  men 
just  where  they  are,  notwithstanding  their  national  peculiari- 
ties, and  make  them  the  friends  of  God  and  the  heirs  of 
heaven.  It  needs  no  pioneer.  It  asks  for  no  herald  to  invoke 
other  agencies  to  prepare  the  way  for  its  coming  and  recep- 
tion. It  is  itself  the  pioneer  of  Jehovah  —  the  herald  of  the 
great  King. 

These  things  can  be  affirmed  only  of  the  Gospel.  Were 
we  to  examine  all  the  systems  of  ancient  and  modern  philoso- 
phy which  have  proposed  to  make  men  wise  and  happy,  and 
submit  them  to  a  critical  analysis,  we  should  perceive  that 
they  are  all  strongly  tinged  with  the  spirit  of  the  age  and 
nation  in  which  they  originated  ;  and  were,  at  the  same  time, 
capable  only  of  a  limited  application.  Carry  these  systems 
across  a  few  lines  of  latitude  or  longitude,  and  they  become 
exotics  in  an  ungenial  clime,  and  perish  of  themselves.  Pro- 
tract their  existence  a  single  century,  upon  the  very  soil 
which  gave  them  birth,  and  among  the  very  people  who  ori- 
ginated and  cherished  their  dogmas,  and  they  become  superan- 
nuated, and  die  of  old  age.  The  same  is  true  of  the  religions 
of  the  world.  They  are  all  local  and  temporary  —  and  well 
they  may  be,  for  they  are  dependent  on  circumstances  for 
their  very  existence.  It  would  be  a  thing  next  to  impossible 
to  bring  the  Turks  and  the  Greenlanders  to  exchange  reli- 
gions ;  and  yet  Turkey  and  Greenland  may  be  made  to  feel 
the  truth  of  God,  and  submit  to  its  power.  No  system  of 
false  philosophy  has  ever  been  universal  —  no  single  form  of 
paganism  has  established  its  dominion  over  the  nations  of  the 
earth.  But  the  Gospel  is  indigenous  in  every  soil  where  it  is 
planted.  It  is  at  home  in  every  land.  It  accomplishes  its 
own  appropriate  work  wherever  it  goes,  for  God  is  in  it. 

I  would  not  intimate  in  these  remarks,  that  different  states 
of  society  may  not  be  more  or  less  favorable  to  the  propaga- 
tion of  the  Gospel ;  nor  deny  that  auxiliary  agencies  may  be 
employed  to  unfold,  diffuse,  and  enforce  the  truth  of  God  ; 
and  least  of  all  would  I  affirm,  that  the  Gospel  will  leave  a 
nation  as  it  finds  it.  Civilization  and  the  useful  arts  of  life, 
letters  and  refinement,  in  one  word,  all  that  can  elevate  man 
in  the  scale  of  being,  promote  his  happiness,  or  adorn  and 
beautify  his  social  character,  have  never  failed,  other  things 
being  favorable,  to  follow  in  the  footsteps  of  this  revelation 
from  heaven. 

2.  The  Gospel  is  suited  to  the  common  wants  of  man. 


212  THE    GOSPEL    ADAPTED 

This  system  was  not  contrived  to  relieve  us  from  some  fac- 
titious evils,  nor  to  minister  to  our  artificial  wants ;  but  it 
contemplates  the  world  in  its  true  light,  and  undertakes  at 
once  to  mitigate,  and  ultimately  to  root  out,  all  suffering  from 
the  kingdom  of  Christ. 

And  here  we  may  see  the  difference  between  the  Gospel 
and  every  antagonist  and  conflicting  system.  It  is  the  differ- 
ence between  what  is  particular  and  what  is  general  — 
between  what  is  limited  to  individuals,  and  what  is  common 
to  all  men  —  between  what  is  restricted  to  one  country  or 
one  age,  and  what  may  be  applied  with  equal  propriety  and 
practical  effect  to  every  country  of  the  globe,  or  to  every 
period  from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  time.  The  Gospel 
overlooks,  as  unworthy  of  its  high  and  heavenly  aims,  that 
which  is  circumstantial,  local,  and  temporary  ;  and  selects,  as 
the  object  of  its  benevolence,  that  which  is  essential,  unlim- 
ited, and  enduring.  Among  the  pagans,  many  a  deity  has 
derived  his  existence  from  a  mountain,  stream,  or  forest. 
Altars  and  forms  of  worship  have  been  called  into  being  to 
avert  some  impending  calamity,  to  stay  the  ravages  of  famine, 
to  mitigate  the  rage  of  pestilence,  or  to  turn  aside  the  bloody 
scourge  of  war.  The  form  and  productions  of  a  country,  the 
customs  of  domestic  and  social  life,  the  prevalence  of  certain 
types  of  disease,  the  peaceful  or  warlike  habits  of  a  people, 
and  an  endless  catalogue  of  like  circumstances,  have  not  only 
shaped  and  modified,  but  have  actually  created  systems  of  re- 
ligious belief  and  practice. 

But  the  Gospel  is  constructed  upon  another  principle.  It 
professes  to  supply  what  is  most  needful  for  man,  upon  a 
nobler  and  more  magnificent  scale.  It  never  attempts,  as 
most  false  religions  do,  to  remove  the  trivial  and  incidental 
evils  of  life ;  to  guard  men  against  the  disabilities  which 
belong  to  their  specific  circumstances  ;  nor  to  ward  off  disease 
or  death  by  charms  or  talismanic  power ;  but,  regarding  all 
these  as  light  afflictions,  which  endure  but  for  a  moment,  it 
settles  down  at  once  upon  the  common  wants  of  men,  as  pil- 
grims on  the  earth  and  the  heirs  of  eternity. 

A  few  of  the  common  wants  of  our  dying  world,  for  which 
the  Gospel  effectually  provides,  may  very  properly  be  enum- 
erated in  this  place. 

Man,  in  relation  to  all  kinds  of  knowledge,  is  the  subject  of 
instruction ;  and  in  nothing  does  he  more  imperatively  de- 
mand it  than  in  religion.      The  lights  of  this  world  have 


TO  THE  WANTS  OP  THE  WORLD.         213 

become  so  dimmed,  that  he  never  clearly  sees,  nor  fully  per- 
forms his  duties  to  God  or  his  fellows,  till  a  purer  and 
brighter  orb  in  heaven  shines  upon  him.  Sin  has  well  nigh 
obliterated  the  perceptions  of  God  and  duty  from  the  human 
mind.  The  world  is  perishing  for  the  want  of  spiritual 
knowledge.  This  is  seen  and  felt  every  where.  Not  a  soul 
on  earth  can  find  the  way  to  heaven,  without  the  special 
interposition  of  God  ;  and  whether  he  communicates  himself 
silently  and  mysteriously,  in  here  and  there  a  solitary  case, 
without  a  written  revelation,  we  are  not  informed,  and  it  is  a 
problem  which  we  are  not  required  to  solve.  But  this  we  do 
know,  for  God  has  taught  it,  that  the  Bible  is  the  grand 
source  of  religious  instruction.  The  nations  are  in  midnight 
without  it.  It  is  a  darkness  without  the  prospect  of  a  dawn. 
It  is  deep,  dense,  central,  visible  ;  and  not  a  star  of  promise 
has  been  seen  in  the  heavens,  as  the  harbinger  of  an  opening 
^lay?  by  any  telescope  which  nature  or  art  has  been  able  to 
construct.  Without  the  Gospel,  men  are  every  where  desti- 
tute of  that  knowledge  necessary  to  the  well-being  of  the 
soul ;  and  with  it,  they  have  every  thing  which  God  himself 
deemed  essential,  when  their  salvation  was  the  grand  object 
to  be  accomplished.  This  fallen  world  needs  an  infallible 
guide,  and  that  guide  is  to  be  found  alone  in  a  written  revela- 
tion. No  decrees  of  popes  or  councils  can  supply  its  place. 
No  tradition,  though  it  were  to  descend  from  heaven,  and 
emanate  from  the  throne  of  God,  can  become  a  substitute. 
.The  Jew,  the  Pagan,  the  Mohammedan,  the  Catholic,  the 
Protestant,  all  need  this  volume.  It  is  adapted  to  the  com- 
mon wants  of  a  world ;  and  the  nation,  whether  refined  or 
barbarous,  that  is  destitute  of  it,  is  living  without  the  sun. 

But  man  needs  not  only  an  infallible  instructor,  but  sup- 
port under  the  nameless  evils  which  sin  has  inflicted  upon 
him.  In  every  country  under  heaven,  on  every  continent 
and  every  island  of  the  sea,  he  is  hardly  less  miserable  than 
he  is  sinful.  And  yet  the  religion  of  the  Saviour  can  mingle 
the  ingredients  of  comfort  in  every  bitter  cup.  Passing  over 
a  long  list  of  ills  which  flesh  is  heir  to,  I  would  fix  your  at- 
tention on  two  to  which  all  men  are  subject,  in  whatever  state 
of  society  or  condition  of  life,  and  for  which  the  Gospel  pro- 
vides a  perfect  remedy.  I  refer  to  remorse  of  conscience 
and  the  sting  of  death.  These  are  coextensive  with  the 
fallen  race.  Sin  is  an  evil  of  so  malignant  a  character,  that 
it  reveals  itself  in  the  present  life  —  it  is  followed  by  a  pre- 


SH  '^^^    GOSPEL    ADAPTED 

sent  retribution.  Verily,  there  "  is  a  God  that  judgeth  in 
the  earth."  The  poor  pagan  feels  this,  and  hence  his  sacri- 
fices and  his  self-inflicted  tortures.  It  is  on  this  principle 
that  penance  and  pilgrimages  belong  to  most  systems  of  false 
religion.  But  the  Gospel  alone  can  calm  the  troubled  spirit, 
pluck  away  the  deep-seated  anguish  of  the  heart,  and  inspire 
that  hope  which  prophesies  of  heaven.  And  not  only  are  the 
great  evils  of  life  provided  for  by  the  religion  of  Christ,  but 
death  itself  —  that  event  every  where  dreaded  in  our  world  — 
that  event  which  may,  in  itself,  be  considered  the  sum  and 
concentration  of  all  earthly  ills  —  the  primeval  curse  of 
God  upon  a  world  of  rebels,  may  be  divested  of  all  its  unlove- 
liness,  and  disarmed  of  all  its  inflictions,  and  be  converted 
into  the  richest  blessing.  The  Christian  victor's  song  is, 
"  O  death,  where  is  thy  sting  ?  O  grave,  where  is  thy  vic- 
tory?" 

3.  The  Gospel  is  adapted  to  every  order  of  mind. 
In  this  respect  it  differs  from  all  human  systems.  Among 
the  most  distinguished  ancient  nations,  they  had  one  religion 
for  the  learned,  and  another  for  the  illiterate.  This  was  true 
in  Greece,  and  probably,  to  some  extent,  in  Rome.  Their 
great  men,  and  especially  their  sages  and  philosophers,  gave 
little  or  no  credit  to  the  doctrines  of  polytheism  admitted  by 
the  vulgar ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  approximated  to  something 
like  a  pure  theism  in  their  religious  belief.  I  would  not  afl^irm 
that  this  was  universal,  possibly  it  w^as  not  even  general ;  but, 
in  many  cases,  it  is  an  unquestioned  fact.  As  to  their  sys- 
tems of  philosophy,  they  were  too  refined  and  subtle  to  be  re- 
ceived by  common  minds.  I  do  not  say  understood,  for  it 
may  be  fairly  doubted  whether  they  were  understood  by  any. 
They  were  marked  by  intellectual  caste  ;  and  this  stamp  had 
been  put  upon  them  intentionally,  in  order  to  protect  the  pre- 
rogatives of  great  minds,  and  to  show  the  common  mass  of 
men  that  they  had  no  right  to  think.  Neither  the  system  of 
the  Stoics  nor  of  the  Epicureans  could  have  become  universal. 
They  were  limited  by  their  very  nature  ;  the  former  to  a  cer- 
tain order  of  mind,  and  the  latter  to  a  certain  moral  or  physi- 
cal temperament  —  and  both  of  them  entirely  inapplicable,  in 
all  their  parts  and  ramifications,  to  the  society  or  population 
of  any  country.  Were  we  to  examine  the  speculations  of  any 
or  every  ancient  philosopher,  trace  out  the  various  systems, 
examine  their  origin,  scrutinize  their  purposes  or  intentions, 
and  follow  their  progress  to  their  final  results,  we  should  ar- 


TO    THE   WANTS    OF   THE    WORLD.  215 

rive  at  this  conclusion,  that  they  were  never  designed  for  the 
world  at  large,  and,  being  adapted  to  a  particular  order  of  in- 
tellect, their  influence,  whether  good  or  bad,  would  be  restrict- 
ed to  a  small  number  of  individuals,  wherever  their  doctrines 
might  be  embraced. 

By  the  side  of  these  intellectual  and  moral  schemes,  con- 
template the  character  of  the  Gospel  in  relation  to  the  single 
feature  of  its  adaptedness  to  every  order  of  mind.  While 
some  religions  are  suited  to  the  unlettered,  and  some  to  the 
cultivated,  and  while  the  same  may  be  affirmed  of  certain  sys- 
tems of  philosophy  and  morals,  the  Bible  scheme  is  adapted  to 
the  intellect  of  every  man.  No  elevation  of  mind  can  rise 
above  the  sublimity  of  its  truths ;  no  stretch  of  thought  can  go 
beyond  the  vast  reach  of  its  purpose ;  no  analytic  powers  can 
detect  a  discordant  element  in  its  grand  and  complicated  sys- 
tem. It  teaches  the  great  man,  and  makes  him  wiser  and 
better.  Time  would  fail  me,  were  I  to  attempt  to  enumerate 
the  men  of  mighty  minds,  the  giants  of  the  earth,  who  have 
towered  above  their  fellows,  as  the  oak  above  the  saplings  of 
the  forest,  who,  at  the  same  time,  have  acknowledged  them- 
selves indebted  for  their  best  lessons  of  instruction,  to  the 
Bible.  Boyle,  of  whom  it  has  been  said,  "  To  him  we  owe  the 
secrets  of  fire,  air,  water,  animals,  vegetables,  fossils,  so  that 
from  his  works  may  be  deduced  the  whole  system  of  natural 
knowledge,"  was  in  the  habit  of  reading  this  letter  from  heav- 
en upon  his  knees  ;  and  Newton,  that  child-like  sage,  investi- 
gated the  wonders  of  revelation  with  an  intensity  not  less  ex- 
cited and  profound  than  that  with  which  he  scanned  the  starry 
heavens,  or  passed  his  measuring-line  around  the  earth,  or 
dropped  his  lead  to  its  centre,  or  unbraided  the  complicated 
tissue  of  light. 

Nor  was  this  communication  from  God  made  for  the  in- 
struction or  entertainment  of  great  minds  alone,  but  is  equally 
adapted  to  the  humble  and  the  unlettered.  It  is  in  revelation 
as  in  nature  —  sublimity  and  simplicity  are  always  united, 
The  same  volume  which  furnishes  the  richest  instructions  to 
the  sage,  can  be  understood  and  enjoyed  with  as  fine  a  relish 
by  the  husbandman  who  follows  the  plough,  by  the  mechanic 
in  his  work-shop,  or  by  the  child  in  the  Sabbath-school. 
What  a  vast  variety,  with  respect  to  mental  power  and  ac- 
quirement, may  be  found  in  the  ranks  of  believers  ;  and  yet, 
gathered  as  they  are  from  the  four  winds  of  heaven,  they  all 
entertain  essentially  the  same  views  of  the  way  of  salvation, 


216  THE    GOSPEL    ADAPTED 

and  have  manifestly  imbibed  the  same  heavenly  spirit.  In- 
deed, I  may  add,  what  no  one  who  has  studied  this  subject  can 
have  overlooked,  that  the  Gospel,  being  designed  for  a  world 
as  it  is  —  a  world  in  which  the  great  majority  of  its  inhabitants 
are  ignorant  and  uninstructed,  has  been  formed  for  the  very 
purpose  of  meeting  this  case.  It  is  a  revelation  to  the  be- 
nighted and  the  lowly.  It  teaches  the  sublimest  truths  in  such 
a  manner  that  babes  may  understand  them,  and  inculcates  the 
simplest  with  such  a  heavenly  elevation  and  pathos,  that  minds 
of  the  largest  compass  and  the  profoundest  thought  are  in- 
structed and  delighted. 

4.  The  Gospel  counteracts  sin  in  every  possible  condition. 
Sin  is  the  source  of  all  the  other  evils  which  prevail  under 
the  government  of  God  ;  and  the  object  of  the  coming  Christ, 
and  the  introduction  and  spread  of  the  Gospel,  is  the  exter- 
mination of  this  great  evil  from  our  world.  The  Bible  de- 
scribes its  nature,  and  tells  us  of  its  present  and  future  conse- 
quences. It  holds  up,  in  the  sun-light  of  eternal  truth,  its 
malignant  features,  and,  for  an  illustration  of  its  fruits,  points 
us  to  a  bleeding  earth  and  a  burning  hell.  The  introduction 
of  this  evil  into  our  world  was  the  work  of  Satan ;  and  "  for 
this  purpose  the  Son  of  God  was  manifested  that  he  might  de- 
stroy the  works  of  the  devil."  No  other  system  of  morals  or 
rehgion  has  made  an  attack  upon  sin  as  such.  Some  particu- 
lar sins  have  been  denounced,  and  to  a  certain  extent,  no 
doubt,  counteracted  by  other  influences ;  but  it  was  reserved 
for  the  Gospel  alone  to  proclaim  war  against  every  sin,  great 
and  small.  It  spares  no  man  ;  it  has  no  protecting  shield  for 
the  transgressor.  It  has  no  mantle  of  charity  to  inwrap  the 
sinner,  and  thus  cover  up  his  true  character  as  the  enemy  of 
God.  It  lays  the  axe  "  at  the  root  of  the  trees,"  and  hews 
down  the  tall  cedar  as  well  as  the  withered  bramble.  It  con- 
demns the  sinning  monarch  in  terms  as  unsparing  and  uncom- 
promising as  it  does  the  sinning  beggar.  For  the  city  and 
country,  for  the  refined  and  the  ignoble,  for  Christian  and  for 
Pagan  lands,  there  is  but  one  law  —  "  Without  holiness  no  man 
shall  see  the  Lord."  It  has  no  respect  to  age,  station,  learn- 
ing, country,  kindred,  sex,  family,  or  profession  in  life,  but  bears 
testimony  against  all  who  love  and  practice  sin. 

But  the  Gospel  does  something  more  than  describe  the  na- 
ture of  sin,  and  point  out  the  present  and  future  woes  which 
hang  around  a  wicked  heart  and  life.  It  proposes  a  remedy. 
It  would  relieve  our  sinful  and  suffering  world  from  its  accu^ 


TO  THE  WANTS  OF  THE  WORLD.         217 

mulated  evils,  by  striking  a  death-blow  at  the  very  root  of  all 
the  mischief.  The  Gospel  is  a  scheme  contrived  of  God,  and 
revealed  from  heaven  for  the  removal  of  sin.  It  undertakes 
to  make  men  happy  only  by  this  process.  It  provides  for  the 
pardon  of  sin  through  the  blood  of  the  atonement ;  and  by  the 
instrumentality  of  truth,  and  the  agency  of  the  Spirit,  subdues 
the  affections  to  the  love  of  God,  and  carries  on  in  the  heart 
of  the  penitent  and  believing  sinner  a  work  of  progressive 
sanctification,  which  will  be  rendered  perfect  and  triumphant 
in  heaven.  And  unless  this  effect  can  be  produced,  of  what 
use  is  any  scheme  of  religion  for  such  a  world  as  this  ?  A  man 
may  pass  through  a  thousand  changes,  and  till  he  pass  from 
death  to  life,  from  sin  to  holiness,  he  w^ears  his  chains,  and  is 
on  the  way  to  execution.  The  great  curse  is  still  on  him,  and 
he  must  be  miserable.  Sin  is  uncancelled,  and  he  cannot  be 
happy.  Of  what  avail  are  the  stripes  and  lacerations  which 
are  self-inflicted  by  the  poor  pagan ;  or  the  austerities  and 
penance  of  the  Romanist ;  or  the  fine  speculations  of  the  uni- 
tarian or  the  deist  on  the  beauty  of  virtue  and  the  benevolence 
of  God,  while  no  radical  change  is  effected  in  the  moral  char- 
acter ?  Man  is  every  where  a  sinner ;  and  in  all  these  human 
schemes  and  devices  there  is  no  provision  for  the  removal  of 
this  fundamental  evil.  No  system  of  religion,  whatever  name 
it  may  wear,  whether  Christian  or  pagan,  can  supply  the  mo- 
ral demands  of  such  a  world  as  ours,  unless  it  commence  with 
sin.  Spare  this,  and  you  ruin  the  world.  Leave  this  unpro- 
vided for,  and  you  shut  for  ever  the  gate  of  heaven  against  the 
human  race.  Omit  this  single  item,  and  you  open  wide  the 
door  of  perdition.  Strike  out  from  your  scheme  the  provision 
for  pardon  and  the  power  of  sanctification,  and  you  have  a  re- 
ligion which  can  never  become  universal,  and  would  be  of  no 
use  were  it  to  become  universal,  for  it  would  bring  no  relief 
to  a  sinful  world.  But  such  is  not  the  Gospel  of  the  Son  of 
God. 

5.  The  Gospel  is  not  dependent  on  any  system  of  human 
philosophy. 

The  Bible  teaches  "  as  one  having  authority,  and  not  as 
the  scribes."  In  narrating  facts,  it  records  them  as  they  are, 
and  in  their  proper  relations ;  in  the  revelation  of  doctrines, 
it  presents  them  as  fundamental  truths  which  are  to  be  ac- 
credited, and  makes  no  explanations  of  the  former,  and  enters 
into  no  reasonings  respecting  the  latter.  It  discloses  facts  and 
principles  of  which  all  men,  or  the  generality  of  men,  were  be- 
19 


218  THE    GOSPEL   ADAPTED 

fore  ignorant,  or  in  which,  at  least,  they  were  but  imperfectly 
instructed ;  and  there  it  leaves  them.  And  there  these  truths 
stand  stereotyped  for  ever,  without  change  of  form  or  feature. 
The  Gospel  borrows  nothing  from  the  reigning  philosophy, 
for  it  has  nothing  to  decorate,  that  it  may  attract  the  eyes  of 
men;  nothing  to  render  palatable  by  courting  the  popular 
taste;  nothing  to  explain;  nothing  to  reconcile.  From  the 
commencement  to  the  close  of  its  communications  to  our  world, 
though  these  extend  through  more  than  fifteen  centuries,  and 
were  furnished  by  a  large  number  of  sacred  penmen,  it  never 
loses  sight  of  one  fixed  purpose,  and  that  is,  to  tell  men  what 
truth  is.  And  when  this  is  done,  its  work  is  finished.  It 
never  comments  or  philosophizes  upon  its  own  productions. 
Hence  the  Bible,  like  its  Author,  has  a  kind  of  ubiquity,  and 
can  live  every  where ;  and,  like  him,  it  has  a  perpetuity  of 
existence,  and  is  the  same  in  every  age.  Systems  of  human 
philosophy  may  rise  and  fall  and  be  forgotten,  while  Bible 
truth  flows  on  in  a  steady  and  majestic  stream,  and  not  its 
surface  is  rippled  by  the  change. 

In  the  interpretation  of  revealed  truth,  and  in  the  construc- 
tion of  human  creeds  and  symbols,  as  well  as  in  all  the  sys- 
tems of  false  religion,  the  philosophy  of  the  age,  both  intellect- 
ual and  moral,  and  perhaps  I  might  add  in  some  cases,  natural 
philosophy  too,  has  exerted  a  tery  perceptible  influence. 
This  is  what  we  might  expect.  If  men  construct  a  religion, 
it  must  be  of  course  a  human  religion,  and  it  will  partake  of 
human  thoughts  and  qualities.  Men  cannot  beget  angels. 
We  can  hardly  look  upon  one  of  these  earthly  productions 
without  being  able  to  detect  its  parentage,  and  to  tell  the  age  i 
and  country  of  its  birth.  The  same  is  the  case,  to  some  extent,  - 
of  all  human  symbols  of  the  true  religion.  The  creeds  and 
commentaries  of  each  particular  age  and  nation  embody  much 
which  belongs  to  that  age  and  nation.  Indeed,  we  cannot  ex- 
pect it  should  be  otherwise ;  for  they  are  the  productions  of 
men,  and  fathers  generally  live  a  second  life  in  their  children. 
But  the  Bible  occupies  an  independent  position.  It  is  the 
production  of  God.  It  depends  on  no  other  system.  It  bor- 
rows nothing  from  any  other.  Other  systems  live,  flourish, 
wane,  and  die ;  but  this  remains  the  same.  It  has  already 
survived,  amidst  the  changing  theories  and  speculations  of  the' 
world,  almost  six  thousand  years  ;  and  it  is  yet  clad  in  all  the 
freshness  of  its  glory,  as  it  was  in  the  day  when  it  was  born  in 
heaven,  and  sent  down  to  the  earth  for  our  instruction,     Tinie 


TO  THE  WANTS  OF  THE  WORLD.         219 

has  not  whitened  its  locks,  or  palsied  its  hand,  or  chilled  its 
heart.  Systems  of  philosophy  and  modes  of  interpretation, 
one  after  another,  liave  gone  down  to  the  sepulchre,  and  are 
known  only  in  their  epitaph ;  but  the  Gospel  lives,  and  is 
powerful  to  save.  Other  systems  which  are  tbunded  in  error, 
will  in  like  manner  pass  away ;  but  the  religion  of  the  Bible 
will  never  cease  to  exist  and  act  upon  the  world,  till  all  that 
God  has  greatly  purposed  and  kindly  promised,  shall  be  fully  • 
accomplished.  Its  truths  may  be  tinged  or  obscured  by  a 
false  philosophy,  or  by  human  speculations ;  but  this  effect  is 
local  and  temporary.  These  things  are  no  part  of  the  system. 
The  Bible  remains  the  same  ;  and,  at  another  day,  or  in  an- 
other country,  all  is  restored.  Clouds  and  mists  may,  in  one 
hemisphere,  or  for  a  few  days,  cover  the  face  of  the  sun  and 
shut  out  the  light,  but  the  sun  is  not  extinguished:  He  is  al- 
ways shining  somewhere ;  and  the  clouds  and  mists  of  all 
human  theories  will  by  and  by  be  dissipated,  and  he  will  break 
forth,  and,  in  full-orbed  radiance,  shine  every  where,  and  fill 
the  world  with  light. 

6.  The  Gospel  has  no  necessary  connection  with  any  form 
of  human  government. 

The  Bible  acknowledges  the  right  and  sanctions  the  powers   /  ^ 
and  prerogatives  of  civil  government ;  but  it  does  not  pre-  "^ 
scribe  any  particular  form.     The  most  that  is  said  on  this  sub- 
ject in  the  New  Testament,  is  rather  incidental  than  direct ; 
and  is  addressed  principally  to  Christians,  enjoining  it  upon 
th^m  to  be  peaceful  subjects  of  whatever  government  may 
happen  to  exist.     The  following  are  specimens  :  "  Let  every 
soul  be  subject  unto  the  higlier  powers.     For  there  is  no  pow- 
er but  of  God :  the  powers  that  be,  are  ordained  of  God. 
Whosoever,  therefore,  resisteth  the  power,  resisteth  the  ordi- 
nance of  God ;  and  they  that  resist,  shall  receive  to  themselves 
damnation."      And   again :  "  Render   therefore   to   all   their 
dues :  tribute  to  whom  tribute  is  due ;  custom  to  whom  cus- 
tom ;  fear  to  whom  fear ;  honor  to  whom  honor."     It  is  also 
said,  "  Submit  yourselves  to  every  ordinance  of  man  for  the"^ 
Lord's  sake :  whether  it  be  to  the  king,  as  supreme  ;  or  unto      \ 
governors,  as  unto  them  that  are  sent  by  him  for  the  punish-      I 
ment  of  evil-doers,  and  for  the  praise  of  them  that  do  well."       / 

This  language  is  accommodated  to  the  existing  governments 
of  the  apostolic  age ;  but  the  spirit  of  these  precepts  may  be 
applied,  with  equal  propriety,  to  any  and  every  form  of  civil 
and  political  institutions.     Had  the  Gospel  assumed  any  other 


220  THE    GOSPEL    ADAPTED 

ground  than  this,  it  would  have  been  fatal  to  its  prospects  as 
designed  for  a  universal  religion.  If  any  one  form  had  been 
selected  and  approved,  and  others  condemned,  it  would  have 
converted  the  message  of  heaven  into  a  political  proclamation, 
and  all  nations,  except  those  whose  institutions  might  have  re- 
ceived its  approval,  would  have  armed  themselves  against  its 
approach.  It  would  have  been  met  and  repelled  with  the 
same  spirit  with  which  men  are  accustomed  to  meet  and  repel 
invading  fleets  and  armies. 

That  the  Gospel  is  friendly  to  the  rights  of  man  and  the 
liberties  of  the  world,  is  a  proposition  too  obvious  to  need 
proof  The  influence  of  this  system,  wherever  it  is  cordially 
received,  is  felt  upon  every  great  interest  of  society  —  upon 
the  people  and  upon  the  government.  It  will  show  itself 
upon  the  legislation  of  a  country  —  upon  the  character  and 
the  execution  of  its  laws  —  and  in  various  ways,  and  by  per- 
vading and  controlling  influences  peculiar  to  itself,  destroy 
oppression,  and  diffuse  and  protect  equal  rights  among  men. 
It  makes  good  citizens  and  good  rulers,  without  interfering 
directly  either  with  the  form  or  administration  of  govern- 
ment. 

It  was  owing  to  this  characteristic  of  the  Gospel,  that  the 
i^--^r  first )heralds  of  the  cross  gained  access,  with  their  message,  to 
every  country,  notwithstanding  the  peculiar  jealousies  of  the 
age  respecting  international  communication ;  and  though  often 
accused  of  treason,  they  were  never  convicted  of  the  charge. 
And  it  was  on  this  principle  that,  without  an  attack  upon  any 
political  institution,  they  introduced  a  train  of  moral  causes 
which  have  greatly  modified  and  well  nigh  revolutionized  the 
governments  of  the  civilized  world.  And  it  is  on  the  same 
principle  that  modern  missionaries  might  be  permitted  to  go 
every  where,  and  freely  and  fully  proclaim  their  message, 
without  any  alarm  on  the  part  of  existing  governments. 
Indeed,  this  is  the  prevailing  temper  of  the  reigning  powers 
of  the  earth  at  this  moment.  And  in  those  cases  where 
Christian  missions  are  excluded  by  the  laws  of  the  land,  their 
enactments  are  either  founded  on  ignorance  of  the  real  ob- 
jects of  the  enterprise,  or,  as  is  more  generally  the  fact,  are 
designed  to  protect  some  false  system  of  religion,  which  has 
become  publicly  wedded  to  the  state,  and  which,  every  one 
must  know,  Would  inevitably  fall  before  the  powers  of  the 
Gospel. 


TO  THE  WANTS  OF  THE  WORLD.         221 

Remarks.  —  1.  The  religion  of  the  Bible  must  be  time. 
It  cannot  be  the  product  of  the  human  mind.  Its  adapta- 
tion to  the  complicated  circumstances — to  the  wants,  the 
sins,  and  the  miseries  of  the  whole  world,  and  that,  too, 
through  every  period  of  its  existence,  is  peculiar  to  itself,  and 
has  a  parallel  in  no  other  system.  This  one  property  of  the 
Gospel  would  require  a  greater  compass  of  thought  and 
stretch  of  ingenuity,  a  more  intimate  knowledge  of  facts,  a 
clearer  perception  of  causes  and  effects,  and  final  results  — 
of  existing  evils  and  their  infallible  remedies,  than  belong  to 
the  finite  mind.  You  have  only  to  compare  the  religion  of 
the  Bible  with  other  systems,  and  you  discern  the  difference 
between  God's  work  and  man's.  The  one  undertakes  only 
to  provide  for  what  is  limited  to  time  and  place ;  the  other, 
dispensing  with  ages  and  localities,  takes  a  broad  sweep,  like 
the  mind  of  its  Author,  and  actually  provides  for  what  always 
exists,  and  is  every  where  to  be  found. 
,  There  is  not  an  individual  religion  of  paganism  among  the 
nameless  varieties  that  fill  the  world ;  not  a  speculation  of 
ancient  or  modern  philosophy  ;  not  a  thought  in  the  Vedas  or 
Shaster  of  the  Hindoos ;  not  a  disclosure  in  the  Koran,  the 
pretended  revelation  of  Mohammed ;  not  a  system  of  error, 
or  any  part  of  a  system,  in  any  age  or  country,  but  might  be 
the  production  of  the  human  intellect  and  heart,  and  would 
ever  be  likely  to  be,  in  the  same  existing  circumstances.  But 
I  ask,  who  but  God  could  make  the  Bible  ?  I  speak  now 
only  of  its  adaptedness  to  the  purpose  for  which  it  was  in- 
tended. What  eye  but  that  which  surveys  the  world  at  a 
glance,  and  beholds  all  nations,  with  their  multifarious  ills 
and  complicated  wants,  as  they  are,  and  reads  with  intuitive 
certainty  the  moral  pulsation  of  every  heart,  could  see  far 
enough,  and  wide  enough,  and  deep  enough,  for  such  a  work? 
What  but  the  all-comprehensive  mind  could  devise  a  reli- 
gious system,  humble  in  its  grandeur  and  majestic  in  its  sim- 
plicity, which  should  be  equally  applicable  to  men  in  every 
nation  and  every  age ;  which  has  power  to  reclaim  the  heart 
and  control  the  life ;  to  disarm  the  world  of  its  enmity  against 
God ;  to  restore  the  wanderer  ;  raise  the  disconsolate  ;  and 
light  up  a  smile  on  the  pale  cheek  of  death  ?  Surely,  this  is 
no  common  undertaking.  There  is  but  one  Being  who  ever 
thought  of  doing  it ;  and  the  volume  that  reveals  this  purpose 
has,  written  deeply  and  indelibly  upon  its  sacred  page,  the 
signature  of  God. 

19* 


222  THE    GOSPEL   ADAPTED 

2.  The  Gospel  will  finally  prevail. 

This  might  be  inferred  with  great  certainty  from  the  fact, 
or  the  admission,  that  God  is  its  Author.  If  He  constructed 
the  scheme,  it  was  with  some  object  in  view ;  for  some  great 
and  worthy  purpose.  The  sins,  and  tears,  and  death-groans 
of  our  world  had  gone  up  to  heaven,  and  God  had  fixed  his 
heart  on  man's  redemption.  For  this  He  formed  the  plan, 
sent  his  Son,  accepted  the  sacrifice  of  his  blood,  and  made,  in 
his  name,  proclamation  of  pardon  and  peace  to  this  great 
family  of  rebels.  And  shall  not  this  plan  go  into  full  effect  ? 
Will  the  great  Architect  leave  his  noble  edifice  half  finished  ? 
"  God  is  not  man,  that  he  should  lie ;  neither  the  son  of  man, 
that  he  should  repent.  Hath  he  said  it,  and  shall  he  not  do 
it  ?  Or  hath  he  spoken,  and  shall  he  not  make  it  good  ?  " 
Hear  his  own  declaration ;  "  The  Lord  hath  made  bare  his  holy 
arm  in  the  eyes  of  all  nations :  and  all  the  ends  of  the  earth 
shall  see  the  salvation  of  our  God."  His  purpose  is  clearly 
expressed,  and  every  jot  and  tittle  shall  be  accomplished. 

For  the  renovation  of  this  world,  we  are  not  to  forget  that 
God  has  adopted  a  system  of  agencies  suited  to  the  object  to 
be  accomplished.  The  Gospel  is  not  a  dead  letter,  but  "  the 
power  of  God,  and  the  wisdom  of  God."  It  embodies  in 
itself  the  most  effective  moral  influences  which  operate  any 
where  in  the  vast  empire  of  God.  It  was  contrived  for  a 
world  in  the  ruins  of  sin,  and  it  is  the  master-piece  of  Jeho- 
vah—  the  concentration  of  all  that  is  wise  and  magnificent 
in  heaven.  It  is  just  what  the  dying  millions  of  our  world 
need.  It  can  reach  and  save  them.  Its  appeals  are  such  as 
human  minds  and  hearts  can  comprehend  and  feel.  It  comes 
home  to  "  the  business  and  bosoms  '*  of  men,  with  a  conviction 
and  pathos  with  which  no  other  system  is  armed.  Every 
blow  it  strikes  in  our  world,  is  felt  upon  some  interest,  and 
tells  upon  its  final  destiny.  And,  securing,  as  it  does,  in  the 
hands  of  a  faithful  ministry  arid  a  praying  church,  the  pres- 
ence and  power  of  th«  Spirit  of  God,  it  will  go  forth  in  its 
strength  to  the  conquest  of  the  world.  And  what  shall  stay 
the  progress  of  that  scheme  of  grace  and  restoration  which 
God  has  constructed  —  which  is  adapted  to  man  any  where 
and  every  where  —  which  has  already  gathered  the  first- 
fruits  of  the  coming  harvest  —  which  has  saved  its  millions 
in  ages  past  —  which  is  saving  its  tens  of  millions  in  the 
present  age,  and  in  reference  to  the  faithful  administration  of 


TO  THE  WANTS  OF  THE  WORLD.         223 

which,  by  his  devoted  servants,  Christ  himself  has  said,  "  Lo, 
I  am  with  you  alway,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world  ?  " 

3.  All  who  possess  the  Gospel  should  do  all  they  can  to 
communicate  it  to  others. 

This  subject  makes  an  appeal  to  Christians,  which  they 
must  not,  cannot  resist.  The  Gospel,  my  brethren,  has  been 
committed  to  us  f  and  there  is  no  aspect  in  which  this  matter 
can  be  viewed,  which  does  not  urge,  in  the  tenderest  and  most 
powerful  manner,  our  duty  and  our  responsibility  upon  us. 
We  have  the  very  scheme  of  mercy  which  the  world  needs, 
and  without  which  the  world  must  perish.  And  this  dearest 
gift  of  heaven  was  put  into  our  hands,  not  that  we  should  im- 
prison or  chain  it,  but  that  we  should,  to  the  very  last  stretch 
of  power,  give  to  it  "  the  wings  of  the  morning,"  and  bid  it 
fly  to  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth.  The  wants  of  our 
dying  world,  the  nature  of  the  Gospel,  the  command  of 
jieaven,  the  principle  of  benevolence,  the  pledge  of  success, 
the  seal  of  God  upon  all  past  efforts,  and  the  cheering  aspect 
of  this  heaven-born  enterprise  of  missions,  all  —  all  urge  us 
to  stand  up  like  men  upon  whom  the  vows  of  God  rest,  to 
whom  the  eyes  of  perishing  millions  are  directed,  and  whose 
hearts  have  taken  hold  on  the  interests  of  eternity,  and  then 
do  as  Christ  and  conscience  would  have  us.  God  has  opened 
wide  the  door  of  the  world  before  us.  The  unevangelized 
millions  of  the  earth  feel,  at  this  moment,  more  deeply  than 
they  ever  felt,  their  need  of  the  Gospel  and  its  attending 
institutions,  and  its  consequent  moral,  literary,  social,  and 
political  blessings.  And  can  we  go  back,  or  even  stand  still, 
when  we  contemplate  what  God  has  already  permitted  us  to 
do,  or  has  kindly  done  by  us,  in  the  work  of  making  the 
world  what  he  would  have  it  ?  Let  the  American  Board 
and  American  Christians  look  at  things  as  they  are,  —  at 
their  eighty  missionary  stations,  which  appear  as  so  many 
cultivated  spots  scattered  here  and  there  through  the  deep 
and  dense  wilderness  of  paganism  —  at  their  four  hundred 
and  seventy-eight  foreign  and  native  laborers,  whose  toils 
have  already  beautified  these  gardens  of  God  —  at  their  ten 
thousand  eight  hundred  and  ten  reclaimed  wanderers,  who 
have  taken  shelter  in  the  bosom  of  the  church  the  last  year  — 
at  their  twenty-four  boarding-schools,  with  their  eight  hun- 
dred and  seven  pupils  —  at  their  four  hundred  and  fifteen 
free-schools,  with  their  twenty-one  thousand  six  hundred  and 
six  little  inmates  praying  for  instruction,  —  and  then  ask. 


224  THE    GOSPEL    ADAPTED,   ETC. 

shall  this  work  cease  ?  Shall  another  midnight  succeed  this 
dawning  day  ?  This  is  the  time  and  this  the  place  to  settle 
this  question.  O,  let  us  lift  our  streaming  eyes  and  bleed- 
ing hearts  to  heaven,  and,  with  a  simple  reliance  on  God,  say 
this  work  must  not  cease.     God  bids  us  press  onward. 

We,  my  Christian  friends,  are  engaged  in  an  enterprise 
that  honors  God  and  blesses  men !  An  enterprise  in  which 
the  angels  might  wish  to  bear  even  an  humble  part  —  the 
progress  of  which  is  intensely  engaged  upon,  by  all  the  good 
on  earth  and  all  the  perfected  in  glory,  and  the  completion  of 
which  will  fill  the  world  with  songs  of  blessedness,  and 
heaven  with  shouts  of  endless  triumph. 

May  God  inspire  us  for  this  work,  and  take  the  glory  to 
himself.     Amen  and  Amen. 


I 


THE  MORAL   ELEVATION    OF   THE    CHURCH 
ESSENTIAL  TO  MISSIONARY  SUCCESS. 


BY 

BEV.    GEOEGE    B.    IDE. 

0  Zion,  that  bringest  good  tidings,  get  thee  up  in  to  the  high  mountain ;  0  Jerusalem, 
that  biingest  good  tidings,  lift  up  thy  voice  with  strength ;  lift  it  up,  be  not  afraid ; 
say  unto  the  cities  of  Judah,  Behold  your  God.  —  Isaiah,  40 :  9. 

In  the  commencement  of  this  chapter,  the  prophet  is 
instructed  to  comfort  the  depressed  and  sorrowing  church  of 
God,  by  a  glowing  prediction  of  the  times  of  the  Messiah,  and 
of  the  blessings  which  should  flow  from  his  mission  to  our 
world.  Borne  forward  by  the  divine  spirit  into  coming  ages, 
he  beholds  the  precursor  of  Christ  appearing  in  the  wilderness 
of  Judea,  and  hears,  from  its  silent  depths,  the  animating  an- 
nouncement, "  Prepare  ye  the  way  of  the  Lord,  make  straight 
in  the  desert  a  highway  for  our  God."  He  next  proceeds  to 
foretell  the  actual  advent  of  the  Redeemer,  by  declaring  that 
"  the  glory  of  the  Lord  " —  his  glory  as  displayed  in  the  per- 
son and  work  of  his  Son  — should  "  be  revealed  ; "  and  then, 
glancing  his  inspired  vision  rapidly  onward  to  the  period 
when  the  sublime  destinies  of  the  Gospel  were  to  be  consum- 
mated in  its  full  and  universal  prevalence,  exclaims,  "  All 
flesh  shall  see  it  together." 

Having  thus  described  the  introduction  of  Christianity,  and 
sketched,  with  a  single  comprehensive  stroke,  its  ultimate 
triumphs,  he  passes  from  these  bright  unfoldings  of  prophecy, 
to  urge  upon  the  people  of  God  the  momentous  obligation 
arising  from  their  new  and  peculiarly  favored  circumstances. 
"  O  Zion,  that  bringest  good  tidings,  get  thee  up  into  the 
high  mountain ;  O  Jerusalem,  that  bringest  good  tidings,  lift 
up  thy  voice  with  strength ;  lift  it  up,  be  not  afraid ;  say  unto 
the  cities  of  Judah,  Behold  your  God."     In  their  original 


226  THE   MORAL   ELEVATION    OF   THE    CHURCH 

application,  these  words  had,  doubtless,  a  specific  reference  to 
the  apostles  and  immediate  followers  of  our  Lord.  The  de- 
voted company  of  believers,  which  first  gathered  around  the 
standard  of  his  cross,  then  formed  the  spiritual  Zion  —  the 
germ  and  nucleus  of  the  future  church ;  and  to  them  was 
given  the  solemn  commission  of  publishing,  far  and  wide,  the 
message  of  redeeming  love.  Beginning  at  Jerusalem,  as 
the  starting-point  of  their  labors,  they  were  to  proclaim  the 
doctrine  of  a  crucified  and  risen  Saviour,  through  every  city 
and  hamlet,  in  every  lonely  vale,  and  on  every  rocky  hill  of 
the  chosen  land.  Nor  was  this  the  limit  of  their  embassy. 
They  were  commanded  to  pass  beyond  the  barriers  of  Jewish 
prejudice  and  restriction,  and,  going  into  all  the  world,  to  make 
known,  wherever  their  steps  could  reach,  or  their  voice  could 
penetrate,  "  the  unsearchable  riches  of  Christ." 

But  while  such  was  unquestionably  the  primary  bearing  of 
the  passage  before  us,  the  appeal  which  it  utters,  viewed  in 
its  general  design,  addresses  itself,  with  no  less  directness  and 
urgency,  to  the  disciples  of  Jesus  in  every  age,  and  especially 
to  those  of  the  present  day.  The  same  Gospel,  which  brought 
life  and  salvation  to  the  early  Christians,  and  which  they  were 
every  where  to  promulgate,  as  the  only  remedy  for  the  sins 
and  miseries  of  apostate  man,  has  been  imparted  to  ourselves, 
in  all  its  renovating  power,  and  with  all  its  boundless  wealth 
of  consolation  and  mercy.  Their  privileges,  their  joys,  their 
obligations  are  ours.  The  work,  which,  from  the  fewness  of 
their  hands  and  the  brevity  of  their  mortal  course,  they  were 
able  but  partially  to  accomplish,  has  been  transmitted,  as  a 
sacred  and  imperative  charge,  to  us,  who,  in  these  far  distant 
times,  are  called  to  inherit  their  hopes,  and  to  share  their 
responsibilities ;  while,  through  every  rank  of  our  consecrated 
hosts,  there  sounds  as  loudly  and  impressively  as  once  it 
echoed  along  the  brow  of  Olivet,  the  command  of  our  ascended 
King,  summoning  us  to  the  great  enterprise  of  spreading  the 
knowledge  of  his  grace  among  all  the  millions  of  this  revolted 
earth. 

Regarding  the  text  in  this  light,  and  following  the  order  of 
its  several  parts,  I  propose  to  consider, 

I.     The  IMPORTANT  TRUST    COMMITTED  TO  THE  CHURCH. 

In  entering  upon  this  point,  it  may  be  proper  to  remark, 
that  by  the  term  church,  as  used  in  this  connection,  we  do 
not  intend  any  one  society  of  professing  Christians,  organized 
on  a  particular  model,  and  arrogantly  claiming  to  be  the  only 


ESSENTIAL    TO    MISSIONARIT    SUCCESS.  227 

true  church,  the  exclusive  representatiTes  of  primitive  faith, 
and  the  sole  legatees  of  apostolical  order  and  authority.  We 
refer  rather  to  the  entire  body  of  the  renewed  and  pious  in 
all  lands,  who,  though  bearing  different  names,  and  separated 
by  distinctive  lines,  unite  in  maintaining  the  fundamental 
principles  of  the  Gospel,  and  are  animated  by  the  spirit  of 
their  common  Head.  We  think  not,  indeed,  that  the  external 
forms  of  Christianity  are  unimportant ;  that  no  precise  pattern 
of  them  has  been  revealed  in  Scripture ;  or  that  all  the  branch- 
es of  God's  ransomed  family  are  equally  pure  in  doctrine,  and 
correct  in  their  observance  of  the  institutions  which  He  has 
appointed.  But  we  believe  that,  notwithstanding  many  errors 
and  deficiencies,  those  of  every  denomination,  who  receive 
Christ  as  their  divine  and  only  Saviour,  confidew  holly  in 
his  atoning  sacrifice,  and  manifest  love  to  him  and  to  his 
cause,  are  to  be  considered  as  members  of  his  mystical  body, 
partakers  of  his  grace,  and  heirs  of  his  glory.  These  consti- 
tute the  church  on  earth  —  the  spiritual  Jerusalem,  whose 
foundations  were  laid  deep  in  the  Eedeemer's  blood,  and 
whose  lively  stones  are  all  fashioned  by  his  hand,  and  cement- 
ed by  the  golden  bond  of  union  with  him. 

Now,  we  learn  from  our  text,  that  on  the  people  thus  cho- 
sen and  sanctified,  a  vast  responsibility  has  been  imposed.  It 
is  that  of  carrying  the  Word  of  Life  to  a  perishing  world. 
This  is  clearly  implied  in  the  description  given  of  Zion  and 
Jerusalem  as  "bringing  good  tidings."  The  figurative  lan- 
guage here  employed,  evidently  represents  the  church  as 
charged  with  the  proclamation  of  the  glorious  intelligence, 
that  a  way  has  been  opened  for  the  recovery  of  our  fallen 
race,  through  the  obedience  and  death  of  the  incarnate  Medi- 
ator ;  and  that,  on  the  ground  of  his  justifying  merits,  pardon, 
and  peace,  and  the  heritage  of  heaven  are  now  freely  offered 
to  every  beHeving  penitent.  And  the  fact  that  she  is  to  cir- 
culate these  tidings,  is  spoken  of,  not  as  a  casual  or  incidental 
event  in  her  history,  but  as  her  grand  and  paramount  business 
—  that  which  constitutes  her  office,  and  furnishes  her  appro- 
priate designation.  This  is  the  great  object  of  her  existence 
and  establishment.  Other  valuable  purposes  are,  without 
doubt,  designed  to  be  effected  through  her  instrumentality. 
But  her  special  province,  her  characteristic  vocation,  is  to 
bear  the  message  of  redemption  to  dying  men.  It  is  not  her 
prerogative  to  invent  a  gospel ;  nor  to  change  or  modify,  in 
the  least  particular,  that  which  has  been  intrusted  to  her. 


228     THE  MORAL  ELEVATION  OF  THE  CHURCH 

She  is  simply  to  communicate,  pure  and  unmutilated,  to  all 
nations  and  in  all  languages,  the  teachings  of  that  unerring 
record  which  has  descended  to  her  from  the  throne  above,  as 
alike  the  law  of  her  faith,  and  the  guide  of  her  conduct.  For 
this  was  the  priceless  boon  of  Revelation  bestowed  on  her. 
God  has  not  made  her  the  depositary  of  his  truth,  in  order 
that  she  should  bury  it  in  mystic  recesses,  or  wrangle  over  it 
in  profitless  debate  about  questions  of  mere  speculative  or- 
thodoxy ;  but  that,  with  large  and  liberal  measure,  she  might 
scatter  it  abroad,  to  enlighten  and  bless  mankind.  She  is, 
indeed,  to  preserve  the  precious  treasure  incorrupt  and  stain- 
less ;  yet,  not  that  it  may  be  kept  carefully  locked  up  in  her 
inmost  shrines,  as  ancient  mysteries  were  guarded  from  eyes 
profane,  but  that,  like  the  sun  blazing  on  the  forehead  of  the 
morning,  it  may  pour  its  undimmed  effulgence  on  the  myriads 
that  lie  shrouded  in  darkness  and  wo.  It  is  with  this  view 
that  she  has  been  selected  as  the  receptacle  of  light  from 
heaven — the  radiating  centre  of  moral  influence — ^the  reser- 
voir, whence  the  waters  of  mercy,  shed  down  from  their 
celestial  Fountain,  are  to  flow  out,  in  many  a  divergent  stream, 
to  purify  the  surrounding  masses  of  unsanctified  mind.  In 
her  hand^  is  placed  the  lever  that  is  to  lift  from  the  groaning 
earth  the  load  of  crime  and  sorrow,  and  raise  its  degraded 
population  to  holiness  and  joy.  To  her  has  been  consigned 
that  living  Word,  which,  pregnant  with  ethereal  energy,  can 
quicken  the  dead  in  sin,  and  restore  them  to  the  image  and 
service  of  their  Maker.  Thus  furnished  and  endowed,  she  is 
to  go  forth  into  every  clime — on  the  land  and  on  the  sea — 
through  the  whole  extent  of  this  outcast  globe — calling  upon 
its  guilty  inhabitants  to  "  behold  their  God  " — to  look,  in  con- 
trition and  faith,  to  that  Divine  Redeemer,  who,  having  expi- 
ated iniquity  by  his  own  blood,  now  sits  enthroned  at  the 
right  hand  of  the  Father,  to  dispense  the  blessings  which  he 
has  purchased.  Her  mission  is  to  the  human  race ;  her  tidings 
are  the  wonders  of  Calvary ;  her  object,  the  moral  emancipa- 
tion of  a  world. 

With  the  view  now  given  of  the  peculiar  sphere  assigned 
to  the  church,  the  testimony  of  Scripture  closely  corresponds' 
The  followers  of  Christ  are  represented  as  "  the  salt  of  the 
earth,**  placed  amid  its  scenes  of  corruption  and  ruin,  for  the 
purpose  of  rescuing  it  from  the  grasp  of  spiritual  death,  and 
filling  its  entire  expanse  with  the  pervading  power  of  truth, 
love  and  salvation.     They  are  "  the  light  of  the  world," 


ESSENTIAL    TO    MISSIONARY    SUCCESS.  229 

shining,  not  with  their  own  radiance,  but  with  the  beams 
reflected  upon  them  from  the  Sun  of  Righteousness,  and  are 
intended  to  shed  the  splendors  of  heavenly  day  over  the  moral 
night  which  envelops  so  large  a  portion  of  mankind.  They 
are  likened  to  "a  city  set  on  a  hill,  that  cannot  be  hid," 
but  which,  from  its  elevated  position,  towers  up,  conspicuous 
to  every  eye,  the  attraction  and  the  goal  of  all  hearts,  in- 
viting the  wretched  wanderers  of  earth  to  seek,  within  its 
grace-defended  walls,  a  secure  and  blissful  refuge  from  the 
pursuing  sword  of  justice,  and  the  gathering  storm  of  divine 
wrath.  And  the  Gospel,  which  they  are  required  to  dis- 
seminate, is  compared,  in  its  diffusive  tendency,  to  leaven, 
which,  though  concealed  and  unregarded  at  first,  gradually 
penetrates  and  informs  the  whole  mass ;  thus  showing  the 
duty  of  Christians  to  labor  for  the  evangelization  of  all  men, 
and  the  efficacy  and  certain  success  of  the  instrument  which 
they  employ.  But  it  is  not  by  such  metaphysical  allusions 
alone,  that  this  great  obligation  is  inculcated.  Our  blessed 
Lord  has  pronounced  upon  it  his  own  authoritative  de- 
cision, in  words  so  direct  and  explicit,  that  no  sophistry 
can  evade  their  force  or  question  their  import.  He  is  the 
King  of  Zion,  and  the  sovereign  of  conscience.  His  will  is 
law ;  and,  as  a  declaration  of  that  will,  he  has  said,  "  Go  ye 
into  all  the  world,  and  preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature." 
This  command,  originally  given  to  his  apostles,  was  addressed 
through  them  to  the  whole  church  in  every  successive  age. 
That  command  has  not  been  revoked.  It  is  still  the  unre- 
pealed and  immutable  statute  of  his  kingdom.  Nor  will  it 
ever  be  abated  or  superseded,  until  the  farthest  dwellers  on 
the  globe  are  subdued  to  his  sway.  This  is  his  last  and 
highest  precept — the  universal,  ever  binding  enactment  which 
he  has  left  as  the  directory  of  his  people,  in  all  conditions, 
and  for  all  time ;  and  never  can  they  prove  unfaithful  to  it, 
without  frustrating  the  chief  end  of  their  calling,  and  incur- 
ring the  fearful  guilt  of  treason  to  their  Lord. 

That  to  propagate  the  Gospel  is  the  great  duty  of  be- 
lievers, is  also  evident  from  the  very  nature  and  design  of 
their  religious  profession.  The  one  is  as  inseparably  con- 
nected with  the  other,  as  the  fruit  with  the  tree  which  pro- 
duces it,  or  the  stream  with  its  parent  source.  What  is  it 
to  be  a  Christian  ?  What  is  the  language  of  those  who 
assume  that  hallowed  name  ?  They  declare  themselves  to 
be  influenced  by  the  spirit  of  Christ,  as  a  vital,  controlling 
20 


230  THE   MORAL    ELEVATION    OF   THE    CHURCH 

principle ;  to  have  an  enlightened  and  ardent  sympathy  with 
the  views,  and  aims,  and  feelings  of  him  who  left  the  realms 
of  glory  to  save  the  lost,  and  laid  down  his  life  to  restore 
an  ahenated  world  to  God.  And  can  they  be  indifferent  to 
the  conversion  of  that  world ;  can  they  refuse  to  engage  in 
efforts  to  promote  it,  without  violating  the  express  conditions 
of  their  discipleship  ?  For  wnat  have  they  acknowledged 
their  allegiance  to  the  Saviour,  and  solemnly  dedicated  their 
all  to  his  service  ?  Is  it  simply  that  they  may  secure  their 
own  salvation,  and  pursue  their  solitary  path  to  heaven,  reck- 
less of  the  multitudes  whom  they  leave  to  travel  on,  unwarned, 
to  perdition  ?  Is  it,  that,  having  made  a  compromise  with 
conscience  by  a  public  avowal  of  Christ,  they  may  afterwards 
give  themselves  up  to  the  unchecked  indulgence  of  a  secular 
spirit,  accumulate  riches,  live  in  palaces,  and  lie  on  couches 
of  ease,  trembluig  at  self-denials,  while  from  the  four  winds 
there  comes  into  their  ears  the  cry  of  millions  perishing  in 
sin  ?  O  no  ;  far,  far  different  is  the  covenant  by  which  they 
are  bound.  The  very  terms  of  their  enlistment  under  the 
Christian  banner,  sacredly  require  them  to  strive  with  their 
utmost  ability  to  carry  that  banner  in  triumph  through  every 
land ;  to  plant  it  on  every  mountain  top  ;  to  spread  out  its 
white  folds  beneath  every  sky,  —  the  sign  of  peace  and  joy  to 
a  lost  world.  And  if  true  to  the  name  they  bear,  they  will 
shrink  from  no  sacrifice  and  from  no  exertion,  to  accomplish 
a  result  so  glorious.  Having  tasted  the  preciousness  of  the 
Gospel,  they  will  delight  to  lead  others  to  the  heavenly  ban- 
quet. Themselves  safe  in  Christ,  it  will  be  the  absorbing 
desire  of  their  hearts  to  guide  the  ruined  children  of  earth  to 
the  same  all-sufhcient  shelter.  Nor  will  they  regard  this  as 
the  business  merely  of  official  men,  of  ministers,  of  missiona- 
ries, but  as  devolving,  individually  and  collectively,  on  all  the 
servants  of  God.  For  there  is  not  in  the  Bible  a  plainer 
maxim,  than  that  he  who  receives  the  Gospel,  is  bound  to 
make  that  Gospel  known.  The  very  fact  of  its  reception 
implies  an  obligation  to  diffuse  it.  Heaven  is  not  farther 
removed  from  earth,  than  is  true  religion  from  every  approach 
to  selfishness.  It  is  not  an  unsocial  principle.  It  seeks  not 
to  bury  itself  in  retirement,  nor  wastes  its  energies  in  idle 
contemplations  and  dreamy  raptures,  while  the  whitening 
fields,  ripe  for  the  harvest,  summon  it  in  vain  to  action.  Such 
a  religion,  to  all  but  its  possessor,  would  be  useless.  Such  a 
religion,  like  the  flower  that  blooms  in  the  desert,  may  give 


ESSENTIAL    TO    MISSIONARY    SUCCESS.  231 

\ 

its  fragrance  to  the  barren  air,  and  delight  those  unbodied  \ 
spirits-which  survey  the  hidden  feelings  of  men,  but  can  shed 
no  healing  power  over  the  race  it  was  designed  to  influence 
and  save.  Like  the  gem  which  sparkles  in  the  deep  caves  of 
ocean,  or  in  the  dark  bosom  of  the  mine,  its  lustre  illumines 
no  eye,  and  gladdens  noJieart.  In  opposition  to  this  religion 
of  indolence  and  seclusion,  the  piety  which  the  Bible  enjoins, 
is  active,  practical,  diffusive ;  full  of  charity  and  good  fruits ; 
seeking  out,  like  its  great  Exemplar,  the  abodes  of  destitution 
and  sorrow^ ;  instructing  the  ignorant ;  lifting  up  the  depressed  ; 
opening  wide  the  gate  of  life  to  the  perishing ;  pouring  the 
beams  of  day  on  those  who  sit  in  the  shadow  of  death ;  and 
going  forth  on  its  work  of  mercy,  with  an  expansiveness  of 
benevolence,  that,  overleaping  the  conventional  barriers  of 
country,  and  climate,  and  complexion,  embraces,  in  its  ample 
scope,  the  whole  brotherhood  of  man.  Such  was  the  piety  of 
the  early  Christians.  Fired  with  a  love  for  souls,  allied  to 
that  which  drew  the  Redeemer  from  the  skies,  they  dispersed 
themselves  abroad,  proclaiming  every  wdiere  the  message  of 
salvation.  Every  convert  was,  in  effect,  a  preacher  of  the 
faith  of  Christ.  Every  monument  of  the  grace  of  God  be- 
came an  instrument  of  that  grace  for  the  conversion  of  others. 
Every  light  kindled  up  in  the  moral  waste  sent  forth  its  radi- 
ance on  the  surrounding  darkness.  And  from  every  point 
where  a  band  of  believers  was  gathered,  the  word  of  the  Lord 
went  out  to  the  regions  beyond  it.  O,  had  this  ancient  zeal 
but  continued  to  animate  the  church,  how  different  from  what 
it  now  is  would  have  been  the  aspect  of  our  world !  Long 
since,  the  victories  of  the  cross  would  have  encompassed  the 
globe.  And  even  now,  w^ere  the  spirit  of  primitive  Christ- 
ianity to  return,  what  a  new  impulse  would  be  given  to 
the  march  of  Emanuel's  kingdom.  Then,  wherever  spiritual 
night  spreads  its  gloom,  the  messengers  of  truth  would  go 
forth  in  crowds,  making  the  wilderness  to  rejoice,  and  the 
desert  to  blossom  as  the  rose.  Then  would  all  the  sons  of 
Zion  be  holy  unto  the  Lord  ;  they  would  hold  their  possessions 
as  sacred  to  Him  ;  their  pursuits  would  be  arranged  with  ref- 
erence to  the  advancement  of  his  cause  ;  and  all  their  inter- 
course, connections,  and  employments,  in  the  varied  walks  of 
civil  and  social  life,  would  be  so  sanctified  by  religion,  and 
thus  rendered  so  subservient  to  its  interests,  that,  in  all  direc- 
tions, the  Gospel  would  mightily  prevail,  and  rapidly  extend 
its   conquests   to   the   utmost   limits  of  the  earth.     Let  the 


232     THE  MORAL  ELEVATION  OF  THE  CHURCH 

Christians  of  our  day  but  act  in  simple  accordance  with  the 
demands  of  their  profession,  and  soon  shall  blest  voices  be 
heard  in  heaven,  saying,  "  Now  is  come  salvation,  and  the 
kingdom  of  our  God." 

The  gratitude^  moreover,  which  believers  owe  to  Christ, 
binds  them,  by  all  its  sweet  and  resistless  claims,  to  publish 
on  every  shore  the  wondrous  story  of  his  love.  No  finite 
mind  can  compute  the  amount  of  their  indebtedness  to  the 
Saviour.  He  has  ransomed  them,  with  the  price  of  his  own 
dreadful  sufferings,  from  the  chains  of  sin  and  the  condemna- 
tion of  hell,  and  brought  them  into  the  freedom  and  blessed- 
ness of  the  sons  of  God.  Their  present  joys  and  their  future  • 
glory,  the  privileges  and  comforts  they  now  possess,  the  light 
of  Revelation  shining  on  their  path,  the  consolations  of  the 
indwelling  Spirit,  and  the  immortal  crowns  reserved  for  them 
in  heaven,  are  all  the  purchase  of  his  life  of  sorrow  and  bis 
death  of  ignominy.  What  return  shall  they  render  for  bene- 
fits so  precious,  bestowed  at  such  infinite  cost  ?  The  only  re- 
turn which  he  seeks,  apart  from  the  submission  of  their  own 
hearts  to  him,  is  that  they  should  strive,  earnestly  and  unre- 
mittingly, to  extend  his  reign  on  earth.  This  world  belongs 
to  Christ.  He  has  redeemed  it ;  and  he  owns  it.  In  virtue 
of  his  mediatorial  office,  he  has  become  its  rightful  sovereign 
and  proprietor.  Its  complete  deliverance  from  the  usurped 
dominion  of  Satan,  and  the  subjugation  of  all  its  rebel  prov- 
inces to  his  own  peaceful  sceptre,  are  promised  to  him  as  the 
reward  of  his  atoning  agony.  And,  in  the  fulfilment  of  this 
promise,  "  he  shall  see  of  the  travail  of  his  soul,  and  be  sat- 
isfied.'' Must  not,  then,  every  demand  of  affection  as  well  as 
of  duty  constrain  those  whom  he  has  saved  by  his  blood,  to 
put  forth  their  utmost  endeavors  to  hasten  a  consummation  so 
desirable  ?  Can  they  withhold  their  instrumentality  from  a 
work,  the  accomplishment  of  which  shall  perfect  his  joy  ? 
Can  they  be  willing  that  none  of  the  seed  which  is  to  pro- 
duce the  harvest  of  his  praise,  shall  be  sown  by  their  labors, 
and  watered  by  their  tears  ?  And  when  the  final  triumphs 
of  his  truth  shall  place  on  his  head  the  crown  of  the  recovered 
nations,  O,  can  they  bear  to  reflect  that  their  hands  have 
added  no  jewel  to  that  crown,  and  hung  up  no  trophy  of  sal- 
vation in  the  temple  of  his  glory  ? 

The  duty  of  the  church  to  promulgate  the  Gospel  is  evinced, 
finally,  by  the  fact,  that  God  has  appointed  no  other  channel 
for  its  diffusion.     The  whole  structure  and  design  of  the 


ESSENTIAL    TO    MISSIONARY    SUCCESS.  233 

economy  of  grace,  demonstrate  the  intention  of  its  Author 
that  the  knowledge  of  it  should  be  universally  extended. 
And,  as  all  power  is  his,  he  could  have  made  whatever  pro- 
vision he  saw  fit,  to  secure  this  object.  But  he  has  adopted 
no  miraculous  or  supernatural  means,  nor  any  means,  except 
the  instrumentality  of  his  people,  employed  in  the  circulation 
of  the  preached  and  written  word,  and  accompanied  and  ren- 
dered effectual  by  His  Holy  Spirit.  Apart  from  this,  there 
is  not  an  agency  in  the  universe  whose  office  it  is  to  publish 
redemption.  No  trumpet  from  the  eternal  throne  proclaims 
it.  No  seraphic  voices  chant  it  from  the  sky.  No  angel 
messengers  bear  it  on  their  wings.  No  Urim  and  Thummim 
flashes  with  its  rays.  No  oracle  announces  it.  No  vision 
reveals  it.  No  breeze  murmurs  it.  No  music  of  air,  or  earth, 
or  sea,  whispers,  in  its  many-toned  utterings,  a  syllable  of  the 
glorious  theme.  The  vast  temple  of  Nature,  though  rich  in 
displays  of  God  the  Creator,  has  no  manifestations  of  God  the 
Redeemer.  Nor  is  there  in  the  human  soul  any  moral  intui- 
tion, which,  without  external  aid,  can  teach  it  the  message  of 
the  cross.  The  myriads  of  the  unevangelized  must  remain 
forever  ignorant  of  the  salvation  of  Jesus,  and  perish  in  the 
blindness  of  heathenism,  unless  the  news  of  his  mercy  be  con- 
veyed to  them  by  the  lips  of  its  living  heralds.  This,  the 
apostle  Paul,  in  a  series  of  emphatic  and  sublime  interrogato- 
ries, has  unanswerably  decided.  "  How  shall  they  believe  in 
him  of  whom  they  have  not  heard  ?  And  how  shall  they  hear 
without  a  preacher  ?  And  how  shall  they  preach  except  they 
be  sent  ? "  The  whole  train  of  his  argument  conclusively 
shows,  that,  while  those  only  shall  be  saved  who  call  on  the 
name  of  the  Lord,  and  look  in  faith  to  his  atonement,  none 
will  do  this  to  whom  the  Gospel  has  not  come  through  teach- 
ers delegated  and  sent  by  others.  But  there  is  no  class  of 
men,  separate  from  the  church,  qualified  to  send  forth  the 
ambassadors  of  Christ,  or  prepared  to  sustain  them  in  their 
labors.  To  her,  and  to  her  alone,  has  God  intrusted  the  ap- 
paratus and  the  arrangements  requisite  for  this  purpose.  On 
her  he  has  conferred  the  authority  to  ordain  and  commission 
the  ministers  of  his  truth.  To  her  keeping  he  has  confided 
those  inspired  oracles  which  declare  his  will,  and  unfold  the 
scheme  of  his  grace.  To  her  he  has  given  holy  zeal,  and 
sanctified  talent,  and  rivers  of  wealth,  and  countless  hands  and 
voices,  and  a  key  to  all  the  treasures  of  Omnipotence,  in  the 
20* 


234  THE   MORAL    ELEVATION    OF   THE    CHURCH 

promise  to  hear  her  prayers,  and  prosper  her  efforts.  And,  to 
crown  all,  to  energize  all,  he  has  appointed  his  blessed  Spirit 
to  be  her  perpetual  guide  and  helper,  imbuing  her  words  with 
heavenly  power,  and  rendering  "  the  weapons  of  her  warfare 
mighty  through  God,  to  the  pulling  down  of  strong  holds." 
In  view  of  these  ample  endowments,  no  one  can  doubt,  that 
it  is  her  chief  and  high  vocation,  to  be  Christ's  witness  to 
mankind ;  testifying,  to  all  nations  and  tribes,  the  efficacy  of 
his  sacrifice ;  traversing,  with  eager  step  and  weeping  eye, 
this  wide  "  valley  of  dry  bones  ; "  prophesying  to  its  multitu- 
dinous dead ;  and  bearing  the  uplifted  cross  through  every 
island  and  continent,  until  its  victorious  ensign  shall  wave 
over  a  subject  world. 

Having  thus  shown  the  province  of  the  church,  I  proceed 
to  notice, 

II.     The  moral  position  which  the  fulfilment  of 

HER  SOLEMN  TRUST  REQUIRES  HER  TO  OCCUPY. 

This  is  set  before  us  in  the  words,  "  Get  thee  up  into  the 
high  mountain."  The  allusion  is  here  to  a  herald,  who,  being 
charged  with  the  announcement  of  important  tidings,  ascends 
some  lofty  eminence,  in  order  that  his  voice  may  reach  over 
a  wider  circuit.  Under  this  image,  Zion  is  exhorted  to  rise 
from  her  present  depressed  level,  to  that  high  and  command- 
ing ground,  where  her  influence  may  be  most  powerfully  felt, 
and  her  efforts  attended  with  the  largest  success.  It  is,  there- 
fore, the  spiritual  elevation  of  the  church  which  is  exhibited 
as  so  essential  to  her  efficiency. 

1.  This  implies  that  her  views  of  divine  truth  must  become 
much  more  clear  and  perfect.  One  of  the  causes  which  now 
weaken  and  paralyze  the  church  in  her  aggressions  upon  the 
empire  of  sin,  is^the  corruptness  of  her  doctrines.  Though 
favored  with  that  heaven-indited  volume,  in  which  is  contained 
a  complete  revelation  of  the  mind  of  God,  the  standard  of 
faith,  and  the  forms  and  delineations  of  all  moral  verities ; — 
yet,  owing  to  her  partially  sanctified  state,  and  the  perversity 
of  the  human  understanding,  she  "  sees  through  a  glass 
darkly,"  and  on  many  material  points,  utterly  overlooks,  or 
misconceives,  the  teaching  of  inspiration.  Her  beauty  is 
consequently  impaired  by  numerous  heresies, — her  peace 
disturbed  by  constant  strife, — her  primitive  simplicity  disfig- 
ured by  human  admixtures  and  distortions, — and  that  glorious 
unity,  which  her  dying  Lord  supplicated  for  her,  lost  amid 
a  thousand  jarring  sects,  each  pervaded  by  the  very  genius 


ESSENTIAL    TO    MISSIONARY    SUCCESS.  235 

of  repulsion.  Thus  her  strength,  instead  of  being  directed  to 
the  overthrow  of  Satan's  kingdom,  is  expended  in  domestic 
feuds  and  endless  controversies ;  while  the  world  which  she 
was  appointed  to  enlighten  and  save,  confirmed  in  its  unbe- 
lief by  her  errors  and  divisions,  is  left  to  go  down  to  death ; 
and  Heaven  weeps  and  Hell  exults  over  her  suicidal  discords, 
and  the  roar  of  her  intestine  war. 

The  extent  to  which  this  prevalence  of  unsound  theology 
and  unscriptural  practice  enfeebles  the  church,  and  disquali- 
fies her  for  the  work  committed  to  her  hands,  will  be  evident, 
on  the  slightest  reflection,  to  every  candid  mind.  In  the  dis- 
charge of  her  momentous  functions,  it  is  her  business  to  carry 
the  message  of  the  Gospel  to  all  the  families  of  men,  en- 
chained as  they  are  in  the  fetters  of  delusion,  imposture,  and 
idolatry.  But  how  can  she  do  this  successfully,  when  she 
herself  disobeys  that  message  ?  How  can  she  bear  the  word 
of  God  triumphantly  to  the  nations,  when  she  misapprehends 
or  corrupts  that  word,  and  even  refuses  to  render,  into  the 
dialects  of  the  heathen,  the  full  and  faithful  import  of  its 
inspired  originals  ?  How  can  she  hurl  down  the  giant  struc- 
ture of  formalism  and  Papal  superstition,  which  overshadows 
the  old  world,  and  is  beginning  to  cast  its  baleful  gloom  on 
this  land  of  the  pilgrims,  when  its  very  key-stone  and  main 
pillar  is  found  in  her  own  constitutions  ?  O,  would  she  but 
emerge  from  the  mists  of  perversion  and  falsehood,  into  the 
pure  atmosphere  of  the  Bible,  and,  laying  aside  all  human 
creeds  and  party  watchwords,  stand  on  the  broad,  shining 
platform  of  "  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus,"  how  mighty  would 
be  her  power,  how  brilliant  the  illumination  which  she  would 
pour  around  her !  Then  would  her  voice  be  the  voice  of 
God.  Then  would  her  watchmen  see  eye  to  eye  ;  and  all  her 
myriad  children  speak  one  language,  and  breathe  one  spirit. 
Then  would  her  walls,  planted  on  the  Rock  of  Scripture, 
soar  upward  from  their  firm  foundation,  attracting  the  ad- 
miring gaze  of  mankind  by  their  massive  grandeur,  their 
hamonious  proportions,  and  their  unearthly  glory.  Then 
would  all  her  resources  be  combined,  for  the  single  object  of 
advancing  the  Redeemer's  cause ;  and,  moving  on,  with  un- 
broken front,  under  the  great,  central  banner  of  "  One 
Lord,  one  faith,  one  baptism,"  with  what  united  and  irresist- 
ible energy  would  she  throw  herself  on  the  entrenchments  of 
darkness  ! 

2.  The  posture  demanded  of  the    church  involves  a  far 


236  THE   MORAL    ELEVATION    OF  THE    CHURCH 

higher  elevation  of  Christian  'principle.  The  rules  of  con- 
duct, which  now  govern  a  large  majority  of  her  members, 
are  low  and  defective,  and  closely  assimilated  to  the  maxims 
of  the  irreligious.  Multitudes,  who  have  pronounced  her 
vows,  and  received  her  ordinances,  are  idolatrously  devoted 
to  the  vanities  of  time  ;  grovelling  in  the  dust  and  mire  of 
this  world  of  sense  ;  and  laboring,  chiefly,  to  hoard  up  sordid 
treasure,  or  gain  those  fading  honors  which  a  breath  jjestows, 
and  a  breath  can  extinguish.  Hence,  the  church  is  exten- 
sively secularized  in  her  spirit  and  practice.  In  place  of 
seeking  only  the  glory  of  her  exalted  Head,  and  the  promo- 
tion of  his  kingdom,  imitating  his  example  of  self-denial  and 
humility,  and  obeying  his  laws  of  purity  and  benevolence,  — 
she  is,  in  a  great  measure,  living  to  herself,  striving  for  tem- 
poral aggrandizement,  courting  the  embrace  of  pride,  and 
pomp,  and  fashion,  and  bowing  herself  down  to  the  customs 
and  manners  of  an  ungodly  generation.  Forgetful  of  the 
injunction,  to  let  her  light  so  shine  before  men,  that,  seeing 
her  good  works,  they  may  be  constrained  to  glorify  her  Mas- 
ter, and  acknowledge  the  lofty  morality  of  his  religion,  she 
is  solicitous  rather  to  diminish  its  strictness,  and  square  its 
requirements  to  the  opinions  and  habitudes  of  society.  She 
no  longer  bears  that  distinct  and  unequivocal  testimony 
against  wickedness,  under  all  forms  and  in  all  places,  which 
is  one  great  end  of  her  organization.  How  faintly  she 
rebukes  the  rampant  enormities  of  the  age  !  While  intem- 
perance desolates  the  land,  and  profaneness  insults  the 
heavens,  and  licentiousness  stalks  abroad  with  unblushing 
brow,  and  the  Sabbath  of  the  Lord  is  desecrated  and  con- 
temned, she  utters  scarce  a  note  of  remonstrance,  or  lifts  a 
finger  to  stay  the  overflowing  scourge.  Nay,  more  ;  with 
some  of  the  most  atrocious  systems  of  iniquity  which  the 
earth  has  ever  seen,  she  is,  throughout  a  large  portion  of  her 
communion,  directly  identified.  Not  only  does  she  forbear  to 
reprove  them,  and  drag  forth  their  hideousness  to  the  blaze  of 
day,  but  exerts  much  of  her  talent  and  influence  to  give 
them  patronage,  and  even  attempts  to  wrest  the  statute-book 
of  God,  the  exponent  of  all  truth  and  righteousness,  into  their 
support  and  countenance. 

Dishonored  and  polluted  by  such  alliances  with  sin,  how 
can  she  hope  to  evangelize  the  nations  ?  With  garments  so 
defiled,  can  she  exemplify  to  mankind  the  glorious  beauty  of 
the   Gospel  ?     Herself  needing  a  new  moral  baptism,  can 


ESSENTIAL    TO    MISSIONARY    SUCCESS.  237 

she  disciple  the  world  to  Christ  ?  Can  she  extend  over  all 
the  earth  the  victories  of  the  Prince  of  Peace,  bearing  in 
one  hand  the  emblem  of  salvation,  and  in  the  other  the  price 
of  blood  ;  break  the  chains  of  spiritual  thraldom  abroad,  and 
rivet  the  fetters  of  her  bondmen  at  home  ;  or  teach  to  the 
human  race  the  law  of  universal  love,  while  trampling  on 
human  rights,  treading  out  the  life  from  the  immortal  mind, 
and  crushing,  with  iron  heel,  God's  image  in  man  ?  What 
marvel,  if,  when  thus  approached,  the  millions  of  the  uncon- 
verted should  wrap  themselves  up  in  their  delusions,  and 
prefer  infidelity  or  paganism  to  a  Christianity  so  stained  and 
defaced  ?  What  marvel,  that,  in  circumstances  like  these, 
dissension  should  agitate  our  Zion,  and  blasting  and  mildew 
descend  upon  her,  filling  all  her  borders  with  gloom  ;  while 
an  offended  God  draws  back  his  hand,  and  commands  his 
clouds  to  withhold  their  rain  ;  and  from  our  altars,  and  sanc- 
tuaries, and  missionary  fields,  the  angels  of  mercy  are  heard 
"  gathering  up  their  rustling  wings,"  and  saying,  '*  Let  us  go 
hence  !  "  If  the  church  would  fully  execute  her  mission, 
and  become,  what  her  Founder  intended,  the  advocate  and 
witness  of  his  grace  —  the  proclaimer  of  its  cleansing  power, 
and  its  living  example  —  she  must  abandon  all  affinity  with 
wrong  in  every  shape,  and  ascend  to  the  pure,  cloudless, 
heaven-gilded  summit  of  Christian  consistency  and  rectitude, 
where  she  shall  "  have  no  fellowship  with  the  unfruitful 
works  of  darkness  ; "  but  shine  forth,  "  fair  as  the  moon, 
clear  as  the  sun,  and  terrible,"  to  trangessors,  "  as  an  army 
with  banners."  Then  will  she  receive  the  approving  smiles 
of  God,  in  the  abundant  communications  of  his  Spirit ;  and 
be  known  and  recognized  of  all  men,  as  the  great  antagonist 
of  unrighteousness,  the  moral  regenerator  of  the  world. 

3.  The  elevation  required  of  the  church  includes,  also, 
eminent  personal  holiness.  In  addition  to  the  want  of  high- 
toned  principle,  and  the  connection,  direct  or  implied,  with 
public  evils,  to  which  we  have  referred,  there  prevails,  among 
the  mass  of  Christian  professors,  a  low  standard  of  individual 
and  practical  piety.  They  entertain  a  very  imperfect  sense 
of  their  obligations  to  the  Saviour,  who  has  redeemed  them, 
and  called  them  to  be  partakers  in  the  inheritance  of  his 
saints.  Their  religious  exercises  are  marked  by  many  defi-' 
ciencies.  Their  repentance  is  superficial,  their  faith  feeble 
and  wavering,  their  zeal  languid  and  fitful,  their  views  of 
spiritual  things  obscure  and  distant,  their  hope  of  heaven  a 


238     THE  MORAL  ELEVATION  OP  THE  CnURCH 

vague  desire,  rather  than  a  realizing  certainty,  and  their  love 
to  Christ  and  to  the  souls  of  men,  cold,  speculative,  and  incon- 
stant. Their  entire  character  partakes  largely  of  their  former 
state  of  carnality  and  pollution.  Their  old  tempers  and 
passions  yet  rankle  and  tyrannize  in  their  bosoms.  The 
chains  of  lust,  and  avarice,  and  selfishness,  but  half  broken, 
still  hang  clanking  heavily  around  them.  And  while,  for  the 
shadows  of  this  fugitive  scene,  the  gains  of  commerce,  the 
strifes  and  fluctuations  of  political  parties,  and  the  whole 
shifting  panorama  of  earth's  empty  illusions,  they  are  all 
alive  and  eager,  they  manifest  but  little  concern,  and  make 
few  and  paltry  endeavors,  to  promote  the  honor  of  Jehovah, 
and  the  recovery  of  our  race  to  his  rightful  dominion.  This 
absence  of  earnest  and  devoted  consecration,  on  the  part  of 
believers,  is  a  most  fatal  hindrance  to  the  success  of  the 
Gospel.  It  chills  and  frustrates  prayer,  palsies  the  arm  of 
exertion,  dries  up  the  stream  of  benevolence,  shields  the  im- 
penitent, as  with  triple  steel,  against  conviction,  and,  closing 
the  ear  of  God,  arrests  the  descent  of  his  all-conquering 
Spirit.  Never  will  the  church  meet  her  solemn  responsibili- 
ties, until  her  children,  bursting  asunder  the  shackles  that 
bind  them,  and  rising  out  of  the  slough  of  earthliness  in 
which  they  are  sunk,  come  up  to  that  high  measure  of  evan- 
gelical sanctification,  which  the  voice  of  Scripture  and  the 
exigencies  of  a  dying  world  alike  demand  of  them.  There 
is  a  moral  omnipotence  in  holiness.  Argument  may  be  re- 
sisted. Persuasion  and  entreaty  may  be  scorned.  The 
thrilling  appeals  and  monitions  of  the  pulpit,  set  forth  with 
all  the  vigor  of  logic,  and  in  all  the  glow  of  eloquence,  may 
be  evaded  or  disregarded.  But  the  exhibition  of  exalted 
piety  has  a  might  which  nothing  can  withstand.  It  is  truth 
embodied.  It  is  the  Gospel,  burning  in  the  hearts,  beaming 
from  the  eyes,  breathing  from  the  lips,  and  preaching  in  the 
lives  of  its  votaries.  No  sophistry  can  elude  it.  No  con- 
science can  ward  it  off.  No  bosom  wears  a  mail  that  can 
brave  the  energy  of  its  attack.  It  speaks  in  all  languages,  in 
all  climes,  and  to  all  phases  of  our  nature.  It  is  universal  — 
invincible  ;  and,  clad  in  immortal  panoply,  goes  on  from  vic- 
tory to  victory.  Let  Zion,  through  all  her  departments,  but 
reach  this  elevated  point,  and  how  rapid  and  triumphant 
would  be  her  progress  !  "With  what  overpowering  demon- 
stration would  her  tidings  be  attended  !  What  numerous 
and  ever-flowing  channels  would  pour  into  her  treasiyy  the 


ESSENTIAL    TO    MISSIONARY    SUCCESS.  239 

requisite  means  ;  and  what  hosts  of  her  consecrated  sons 
would  stand  forth,  to  publish  on  every  shore  the  mandates  of 
her  King !  And  how  richly  would  the  showers  of  Divine 
influence  be  shed  down,  quickening  into  life  the  seed  which 
she  scatters,  filling  the  desolate  wastes  with  verdure  and 
joy,  and  changing  this  blighted  earth  into  the  garden  of  the 
Lord  ! 

4.  Another  characteristic  of  the  position,  to  which  the 
church  is  exhorted  to  ascend,  is  near  and  intimate  depend- 
ence on  God,  In  her  present  low  standing-place,  with  the 
vapors  of  error  and  the  fogs  of  worldliness  floating  all  around 
her,  her  spiritual  perceptions  are  clouded  and  distorted.  The 
things  of  sense  and  time  —  the  objects  which  are  at  hand  and 
palpable  —  loom  up  in  unreal  magnitude  ;  while  those  of  the 
far  heaven  are  hidden  from  her  view,  or  appear  in  remote 
and  shadowy  outline.  Hence,  the  great  fact,  that  Jehovah 
alone  is  her  Rock  and  her  Defence,  and  his  almighty  Spirit 
the  source  of  her  advancement,  is  but  dimly  seen,  and  feebly 
apprehended.  She  may,  indeed,  cherish  it  as  an  article  of 
her  creed  ;  yet,  practically,  it  is  unheeded  and  forgotten.  In- 
stead of  reposing  an  undivided  trust  in  the  approbation  and 
blessing  of  her  enthroned  Intercessor,  she  is  too  much  in- 
clined to  rely  on  the  splendor  of  intellect,  the  stores  of 
learning,  the  numbers,  and  wealth,  and  temporal  respectabil- 
ity which  she  can  bring  to  her  support.  In  some  of  her 
divisions,  alliance  is  even  sought  with  the  civil  arm,  and 
princes,  and  potentates,  and  a  mitred  hierarchy,  are  regarded 
as  her  law-givers  and  protectors.  O,  how  unlike  is  this  to 
the  conduct  of  the  early  disciples  !  They  stood  on  "  the 
high  mountain,"  and  saw  the  pomp  of  human  power,  and  the 
gilded  pageantry  of  crowns  and  sceptres,  dwindle  into  a  speck 
beneath  them.  How  little  did  they  estimate  the  glitter  of 
riches,  the  halo  of  talents,  the  parade  of  titles,  and  the  array 
of  all  earthly  influence  !  The  celestial  realm,  with  its  vast 
and  absorbing  realities,  was  close  above  them.  The  face  of 
God,  radiant  with  love,  shone  full  upon  their  hearts,  filling 
the  whole  field  of  their  vision,  and  ravishing  them  with  his  in- 
effable perfections.  Immersed  in  the  divine  effulgence,  they  lost 
sight  of  the  world  —  of  themselves  —  and  God  became  "  all 
in  all "  —  the  atmosphere  in  which  they  moved  —  their  Ele- 
ment of  Life,  their  Centre,  and  their  Rest.  They  felt  that  to 
Him  onli/  must  they  look  for  succor  ;  and  that,  without  his 
presence,  all  the  instrumentalities  in  the  universe  were  vain 


240     THE  MORAL  ELEVATION  OF  THE  CHURCH 

and  worthless.  They  hung  their  hopes  to  the  pillars  of  his 
throne ;  they  laid  their  prayers  at  his  very  footstool ;  and 
He,  honoring  their  confidence,  prospered  their  labors,  and 
made  their  names  a  wonder  and  a  glory  to  all  coming  ages. 
O,  could  we,  like  them,  win  up  to  that  sun-lit  pinnacle,  rising, 
pure  and  clear,  above  the  smoke  and  din  of  this  murky 
scene,  where  our  access  to  the  infinite  grace  of  the  Father 
and  the  Son  should  be  full  and  free  ;  where  our  communion 
with  them  should  be  obstructed  by  no  intervening  barrier  ; 
and  where  our  faith,  severed  from  all  mortal  reliances,  and 
fixing  its  calm  eye  on  the  Omnipotent  alone,  should  grasp 
with  untrembling  hand  his  immutable  promises,  what  an 
amazing  revolution  would  be  wrought  in  our  feelings  and  ac- 
tions, and  how  victorious  would  be  our  assaults  upon  the 
strong  holds  of  iniquity  !  Then  would  primitive  fervor  again 
animate  the  church,  and  apostolical  strength  gird  her  minis- 
try, and  ancient  triumphs  return  to  her  banner,  "  God  wit- 
nessing with  "  her  in  every  land,  and  enduing  his  own  word 
with  energy  from  on  high. 

5.  Another  particular  in  which  Zion  needs  to  be  elevated, 
is  in  the  graiideur  and  universality  of  her  plans  of  benevo- 
lence. The  spectator,  who  occupies  the  mountain-top,  has  a 
much  more  extensive  and  commanding  prospect,  than  he  who 
dwells  at  its  base.  In  like  manner  should  the  Christians  of 
our  day  ascend  into  "  the  Mount  of  Vision,"  that  they  may 
survey  the  wide  moral  landscape,  and  take  the  dimensions  of 
the  whole  mighty  territory  which  they  are  summoned  to  in- 
vade and  conquer.  While  remaining  at  a  low  point,  we  are 
apt  to  confine  our  aims  and  efforts  within  a  narrow  circle,  and 
to  think  little  of  the  far-spreading  fields  which  distance,  and 
interposing  heights,  shut  out  from  our  view.  It  is,  therefore, 
necessary  that  we  should  attain  a  loftier  post  of  observation, 
whence  our  eye  may  range  over  a  broader  compass,  and 
where  we  may  enlarge  our  calculations  in  proportion  to  the 
enterprise  to  be  achieved.  Planting  our  feet  on  the  bright 
eminence  which  has  been  described,  let  us  throw  our  glance 
over  the  immense  regions  that  lie  beneath,  stretching  away  in 
illimitable  perspective.  A  world  is  before  us,  with  all  its 
peopled  continents,  its  crowding  millions,  its  darkness  and 
woe.  Upon  the  whole  boundless  expanse,  Guilt  and  Death, 
with  raven  wings,  "  sit  brooding."  Here,  close  at  hand,  we 
see  our  own  favored  country  —  where  the  free  word  of  God, 
proscribed .  or  trammelled  in  all  other  lands,  has  found  its 


ESSENTIAL   TO   MISSIONARY   SUCCESS.  241 

refuge,  and  wrought  its  most  signal  results  —  sinking  into  the 
gulf  of  degeneracy  ;  menaced  with  the  fearful  domination  of 
"  the  man  of  sin ; "  sapped  and  convulsed  by  giant  vices  ;  its 
rulers,  its  politicians,  and  its  insane  population  casting  off  the 
laws  of  Jehovah  ;  while  the  church  is  at  ease,  her  sentinels 
asleep,  and  the  beacon-lights  burning  dimly  on  her  towers. 
Yonder,  we  see  Europe,  the  proud  home  of  arts  and  civiliza- 
tion —  one  half  of  it  shrouded  in  the  blackness  of  Papal 
night,  and  the  other,  a  solitary  kingdom  excepted,  covered 
with  the  huge  corpse  of  a  dead  Protestantism,  and  its  mon- 
strous emanation,  a  baptized  Infidelity.  And  even  in  that 
single  nation  where  vital  Christianity  still  lives,  we  witness  a 
concerted  and  vigorous  attempt  to  pollute  or  destroy  it,  and 
substitute,  in  its  room,  the  exploded  mummeries  of  a  darker 
age.  On  this  side,  we  behold  Africa  —  wronged,  bleeding 
Africa  —  sitting  in  the  dust,  and  mantled  with  one  wide  pall 
of  barbarism.  We  see  her  vast  interior  thronged  with  savage 
hordes,  scarce  raised  above  the  level  of  the  brute,  and  given 
up  to  the  most  degrading  idolatry.  We  see  the  slave-ship 
hovering  on  her  coasts  ;  and  hear  the  clanking  of  her  fetters, 
the  shrieks  of  her  children,  the  shouts  of  rapine  and  violence, 
echoing  along  her  plundered  shores.  And  there,  far  in  the 
dim  and  ancient  East  —  the  hoary  cradle  of  the  world  —  we 
look  on  the  unnumbered  myriads  of  Asia,  plunged  in  hea- 
thenism, a  prey  to  debasing  passions,  strangers  to  hope,  and 
hurrying  blindly  into  the  abyss.  Every  where,  we  perceive 
the  presence  and  the  power  of  that  relentless  enemy  of  God 
and  man,  whose  throne  is  on  the  high  places  of  the  earth, 
and  whose  trophies  are  murdered  souls.  We  see  Romanism 
deluding  its  countless  votaries  ;  Paganism  enthralling  two- 
thirds  of  our  species  ;  and  the  fell  imposture  of  Mohammed 
blasting  the  fairest  portions  of  the  globe,  and  even  lifting  its 
foul  crescent  above  the  hallowed  scenes  which  the  Redeemer 
trod.  We  see  governments,  laws,  society,  —  both  in  lands  be- 
nighted and  civilized,  —  constructed  on  principles  alien  to  the 
Gospel ;  and  the  spirit  of  ungodliness  diffused  through  all 
ranks  and  classes  of  mankind  ;  while  the  few,  who  cleave  to 
the  cause  of  truth  and  heaven,  are,  in  comparison,  but  as  the 
three  bands  of  Gideon  to  the  dense  host  of  the  Midianites,  or 
as  the  lonely  spots  of  verdure  that  gem  an  otherwise  unbroken 
desert. 

Such  is  the  spectacle  which,  from  the  "  high  mountain," 
presents  itself  below  and  aroimd  us.     The  work  which  we 
21 


242  THE   MORAL    ELEVATION    OF  THE    CHURCH 

are  called  to  accomplish,  is  the  moral  renovation  of  this  entire 
extent  of  sin  and  misery,  its  complete  subjection  to  the  au- 
thority of  Christ,  and  its  universal  transformation  into  beauty 
and  holiness.  Not  a  corner  of  it  is  to  be  left  unreclaimed ; 
not  a  dark  recess  forgotten  ;  not  a  remote  isle  of  the  sea 
unevangelized ;  not  a  wanderer  of  the  wilderness  unillumined ; 
not  a  solitary  child  of  Adam  unblessed  with  the  tidings  of 
peace  and  pardon.  Over  all,  the  loveliness  and  purity  of 
Eden  are  again  to  return.  Over  all,  Christ  is  to  reign,  and  to 
reign  through  the  instrumentality  of  his  people.  Here,  then, 
let  us  stand,  and  devise  our  plans,  and  form  our  resolves, 
with  a  vigor  and  a  scope  commensurate  with  the  greatness  of 
the  undertaking  which  devolves  upon  us.  To  this  all-viewing 
height,  let  the  whole  church  come  up,  and  estimate  the  task 
to  be  performed,  the  evils  to  be  removed,  the  obstacles  to  be 
encountered,  and  lay  out  her  schemes  of  effort  with  an  ampli- 
tude that  shall  embrace  the  world.  This  brings  us  to  con- 
sider, 

III.     The  SPIRIT  WITH  which  she  should  engage  in 

HER  ARDUOUS   MISSION. 

"  Lift  up  thy  voice  with  strength  ;  be  not  afraid."  Strength 
and  courage,  then,  are  the  qualities  which  she  is  to  exhi- 
bit, in  obeying  the  behest  of  her  Lord. 

1 .  She  is  required  to  devote  to  this  work  her  utmost  energy. 
All  her  endowments  are  to  be  concentrated  upon  it  ;  all  her 
resources  called  out  in  its  behalf ;  all  the  means,  and  gifts, 
and  piety  of  her  members  brought  into  requisition,  and  dedi- 
cated to  the  grand  object  of  sending  the  word  of  life  to  the 
nations.  The  real  strength  of  the  church  has  never  yet  been 
developed.  Sluggish  and  supine,  she  is  ignorant  of  her  own 
power.  She  little  dreams  what  mighty  exertions  are  within 
the  compass  of  her  ability.  A  few  efforts,  feeble  and  uncer- 
tain as  those  of  a  sleeping  man,  she  has,  indeed,  made  ;  and  a 
small  band  of  missionaries,  scantily  sustained,  and  slowly 
reinforced,  has  been  despatched  to  heathen  shores.  But  her 
contributions  for  this  purpose  have  been  only  as  a  "  drop  in  the 
bucket,"  to  the  overflowings  of  her  abundance  ;  and  the  men 
whom  she  has  supplied  are  as  nothing  to  that  army  of 
Christian  heralds  which  she  might  and  ought  to  have  sent 
into  all  the  earth.  She  has  scarcely  begun  to  feel  her  true 
responsibility,  or  to  be  in  earnest  in  fulfilling  its  momentous 
demands.  Her  desires  are  stinted  and  weak  ;  her  expecta- 
tions vague  and  meagre.     Her  immense  revenues  lie  unem-» 


ESSENTIAL    TO    MISSIONARY    SUCCESS.  243 

ployed,  rusting  in  her  coffers,  or,  squandered  in  selfish  gratifi- 
cations, corrode  her  graces,  and  become  a  poison  and  a  snare. 
Hence,  the  conversion  of  the  world  lingers,  and  generation 
after  generation  descends  into  hell  ;  while  the  church  is  idly 
reposing  on  her  arms,  or  making  slight  and  puny  demonstra- 
tions against  the  march  of  the  destroyer.  O,  were  she  to  go 
forth  in  her  collected  might,  furnished  with  all  her  numberless 
instrumentalities,  surrounded  and  aided  by  all  her,  sons  and 
daughters  —  love  for  the  world  burning  in  every  heart,  prayer 
for  the  world  ascending  from  every  lip,  bounty  for  the  world 
dropping  from  every  hand,  the  message  of  mercy  to  the 
world  gushing  from  every  tongue  —  with  what  wide-reaching 
strength  would  her  voice  be  lifted  up,  and  how  like  the  trum- 
pet of  the  archangel  would  her  summons  ring  through  all  the 
dreary  abodes  of  unbelief  and  idolatry  ! 

2.  She  is  to  enter  upon  this  work  with  courage.  This  im- 
plies confidence  in  her  Almighty  leader.  It  is  Christ,  "  the 
captain  of  salvation,"  who  marshals  the  church  for  the  com- 
bat, and  superintends  all  her  movements.  He  is  the  Lord  of 
Providence,  the  Sovereign  Disposer  of  all  human  destinies. 
Above  the  storms  and  conflicts  of  time,  the  upheavings  of 
society,  and  the  mutations  of  empire,  he  sits  serene,  directing 
every  event  with  unerring  wisdom  ;  and  even  overruling,  for 
the  final  success  of  his  truth,  and  the  consummation  of  his 
glory,  those  which  to  mortal  vision  appear  most  adverse  and 
disastrous.  Arrayed  in  all  the  attributes  of  Divinity,  he 
guides  and  supports  his  people,  perceives  every  stratagem  of 
the  foe,  foresees  every  peril,  provides  for  every  emergency. 
His  cause  can  never  fail  ;  for  "  He  must  reign  until  he  hath 
put  all  enemies  under  his  feet."  In  reward  of  his  abase- 
ment and  sufferings,  God  has  promised  that  the  knowledge  of 
his  name  shall  fill  the  world  as  the  waters  the  sea  ;  and  that 
he  shall  receive  "  the  heathen  for  Jiis  inheritance,  and  the 
uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  for  his  possession."  This  prom- 
ise, made  to  him  in  the  everlasting  covenant,  will  infallibly 
be  fulfilled.  "  All  that  the  Father  hath  given*  him  shall  come 
to  him."  Every  soul  redeemed  by  his  atonement,  shall  be 
conformed  to  his  image,  and  set,  as  a  polished  jewel,  in  his 
eternal  diadem.  And  it  is  in  the  general  spread  of  the  Gos- 
pel, that  this  grand  result  of  his  mediation  is  to  be  accom- 
plished and  displayed.  With  what  unblenching  courage, 
therefore,  may  his  people  go  forward,  assured  that  infinite 
power  and  faithfulness  are  pledged  to  their  success,  and  that 


244  THE   MORAL   ELEVATION    OF   THE    CHURCH 

every  kingdom  and  nation  shall  yet  bow  to  the  glorified 
Emanuel  ! 

The  church  is  also  to  have  confidence  in  the  tidings  which 
she  proclaims.  Her  theme  is  the  astonishing  grace  of  God 
to  sinful  man,  manifested  in  the  gift  of  his  only  begotten  Son 
to  suffer  and  die.  The  cross,  stained  with  the  blood  of  incar- 
nate Deity  —  the  cross,  in  all  its  melting  eloquence  of  love 
and  sorrow,  its  mingled  exhibitions  of  divine  justice  and  ten- 
derness, and  its  wondrous  bearings  on  earth  and  heaven  — 
is  the  weapon  which  she  carries  for  the  conquest  of  the 
world,  —  the  balm  which  she  brings  to  its  stricken  hearts  — 
the  elevator  which  she  applies  to  its  degradation  and  ruin. 
In  the  Gospel,  when  thus  unfolded,  there  is  a  certain  and 
irresistible  efficacy.  It  is  adapted  to  the  nature  of  man,  and 
meets  all  the  tremendous  exigencies  in  which  he  is  involved. 
It  comes  home  to  his  bosom,  in  all  states  of  intellectual  cul- 
ture, at  all  times,  and  under  all  the  forms  of  his  social  ex- 
istence. No  ignorance  can  misconceive,  no  darkness  shut 
it  out.  It  can  neither  be  overcome,  nor  impeded.  It  springs 
elastic  from  every  pressure.  It  rises  imbued  with  new  energy 
from  defeat.  It  is  a  tide  of  influence  ever  deepening  and 
widening,  and  hurrying  forward  with  swifter  current,  and 
whose  mighty  waves,  the  strong  embankments  of  prejudice, 
infidelity  and  error  but  cause  to  roll  and  swell  the  more  ; 
until,  at  length,  all  barriers  give  way,  and  it  flows  on,  an 
ocean  of  glory,  pure,  boundless,  and  free.  Such  is  the  instru- 
ment on  which,  under  God,  the  church  relies  ;  and,  wielding 
this,  is  she  not  sure  of  ultimate  triumph  ? 

Finally,  she  is  to  be  undismayed  hy  the  number  and  power 
of  her  adversaries.  The  human  heart,  everywhere  intensely 
depraved  ;  the  worldliness  and  aversion  to  God  which  uni- 
versally prevail  ;  the  general  structure  of  civil  politics  ;  and 
the  imposing  systems  of  false  religion  —  all  backed  and  up- 
held by  the  legions  of  the  pit  —  are  combined  in  one  vast 
phalanx  of  opposition  against  the  progress  of  the  Gospel. 
But  this  "  great  mountain,"  whose  roots  are  in  hell,  and  whose 
shadow  covers  the  globe,  "  shall  become  a  plain  "  before  the 
tread  of  the  advancing  Redeemer  ;  and  the  spiritual  temple 
shall  continue  to  ascend,  until,  the  last  stone  having  been  laid 
in  its  place,  amid  the  acclamations  of  the  universe,  shouting 
"  grace,  grace  unto  it,"  —  it  shall  stand  complete  and  perfect, 
the  joy  of  earth,  and  the  admiration  of  heaven.  Every  form 
of  hostility  to  the  grace  and  supremacy  of  God,  every  weapon 


ESSENTIAL    TO    MISSIONARY    SUCCESS.  245 

which  men  or  devils  have  devised  for  the  overthrow  of  his 
cause,  shall  be  broken  and  scattered  by  the  finger  of  his  Pro- 
vidence, and  the  breath  of  his  Spirit ;  for  He,  whose  counsels 
cannot  be  frustrated,  hath  decreed  it.  Discouraged,  then,  by 
no  difficulties,  appalled  by  no  dangers,  may  the  messengers  of 
his  word  go  forth,  knowing  that  free  and  bright,  as  the  orb  of 
day  when'the  cloud-rack  has  vanished,  it  is  destined  to  tra- 
verse the  circuit  of  the  world,  filling  it  with  light,  life,  and 
salvation,  and  evoking  from  all  its  regenerated  inhabitants  the 
pure  offering  of  love,  and  the  glad  incense  of  praise. 

In  the  review  of  our  subject,  how  blessed  does  the  province 
of  the  church  appear  !  How  attractive  and  brilliant  the 
sphere  in  which  she  is  appointed  to  move  !  Jehovah  might 
have  ordained  an  angelic  ministry  for  the  promulgation  of  his 
mercy  to  men.  And  in  such  an  office  the  loftiest  seraph 
would  rejoice.  O,  with  what  swift  and  exulting  pinions 
would  Gabriel  cleave  the  sky,  if  commissioned  to  publish  the 
everlasting  Gospel  to  all  that  dwell  on  the  earth !  But,  in 
condescending  kindness,  God  has  assigned  this  work  to  his 
people.  He  has  made  them  the  bearers  of  his  grace  —  the 
distributers  of  the  Bread  of  Life.  He  has  commanded  man 
to  declare  to  his  fellow-man,  of  every  lineage  and  complexion, 
that  all-sufficient  Propitiation  which  has  been  offisred  for  the 
human  race. 

Fathers  and  brethren !  in  what  position  do  we  stand,  with 
respect  to  this  delightful,  this  imperative  duty  ?  As  members 
of.  the  great  Christian  family,  no  small  share  of  the  world's 
evangelization  devolves  on  us.  Are  we  devoting  to  it  our 
time  and  property,  our  strength  and  soul,  the  whole  active 
energy  of  our  ransomed  nature  ?  Are  we  occupying  that 
high  ground  of  religious  consistency  and  personal  holiness, 
which  will  best  fit  us  for  its  successful  prosecution  ?  Only  so 
far  as  we  thus  live,  are  we  meeting  the  solemn  claims  of  our 
profession.  If  indiffisrent  and  unfaithful  here,  we  are  but 
cumberers  in  the  vineyard  of  the  Lord  —  salt  that  has  lost 
its  savor  —  fountains  whose  waters  are  poisoned,  and  sendi 
forth  disease  instead  of  health.  O,  let  us  awake  to  the  glory 
of  Christ,  and  to  the  wants  of  the  millions  of  our  fellow-beings, 
enveloped  in  the  shadow  of  death,  and  plunging,  even  while 
I  speak,  by  thousands,  into  eternal  despair.  To  all  these  per- 
ishing multitudes  we  are  required  to  carry  the  "  good  tidings" 
of  a  Saviour.  To  this  enterprise  we  are  bound  to  consecrate 
every  faculty  and  every  endeavor,  while  life  shall  last.  We 
21^ 


246  THE   MORAL    ELEVATION,   ETC. 

may,  indeed,  pass  to  our  final  home  ere  the  task  be  finished. 
But  other  hands  will  take  it  up,  and  conduct  it  forward  to  its 
completion.  Be  it  ours  to  strive,  that  they  may  have  nothing 
to  do  but  to  perfect  what  we  have  almost  consummated,  and 
to  raise  the  shout  of  victory  over  the  total  destruction  of  a  foe 
which  we  left  routed  and  flying.  We  are  urged,  by  every 
impressive  and  cogent  motive,  to  arouse  to  action.  Heaven, 
with  its  authoritative  commands  ;  earth,  with  its  guilt  and 
sorrows  ;  and  hell,  with  its  quenchless  fires,  all  invoke  us  to 
do  what  we  can  for  the  deliverance  of  our  species.  The  pre- 
dictions of  Scripture,  the  developments  of  Providence,  the 
aspects  of  the  age,  the  success  already  granted  to  our  incipient 
efforts,  proclaim,  with  trumpet-tongue,  that  "  the  harvest  of 
the  earth  is  ripe  ; "  and,  from  every  surrounded  point,  there 
comes  to  us  the  thrilling  mandate,  "  Thrust  ye  in  the  sickle, 
and  reap,"  strengthened  by  the  glorious  incentive,  "  He  that 
reapeth  receiveth  wages,  and  gathereth  fruit  unto  life  eter- 
nal." 

Brethren,  the  drama  of  the  world  is  hastening  on  to  its 
crisis.  Soon  will  the  curtain  be  lifted,  and  disclose  that  new 
order  of  its  moral  creation,  in  which  righteousness  shall 
abundantly  flourish,  and  perfect  love,  and  purity,  and  joy, 
spread  their  balmy  wings  over  our  redeemed  humanity. 
Then,  and  not  till  then,  will  the  hour  of  rest  arrive  to  the 
church.  Then,  and  not  till  then,  having  accomplished  her 
mission,  she  may  repose  from  her  toils  ;  and,  like  some  uni- 
versal mother,  gathering  from  the  four  winds  her  sinless  and 
happy  offspring,  fold  them  in  her  arms,  and  nurse  them  at  her 
bosom.  Then  will  the  ruins  of  the  apostacy  be  repaired,  and 
angel-lyres,  and  all  human  voices,  unite  to  sound  the  anthem 
of  a  world  recovered.  And  then  will  be  realized,  O  how 
brightly  !  the  entrancing  vision  of  the  poet,  who,  dwelling 
"  fast  by  the  oracle  of  God,"  drew  from  its  sacred  well  his 
sweet  and  seraphic  inspiration  : 

"  One  sonff  employs  all  nations,  and  all  cry, 
Worthy  tne  Lamb,  for  he  was  slain  for  us. 
The  dwellers  in  the  vales  and  on  the  rocks. 
Shout  to  each  other,  and  the  mountain  t0|)s 
From  distant  mountains  catch  the  flying  joy  ; 
Till,  nation  after  nation  taught  the  strain. 
Earth  rolls  the  rapturous  hosanna  round." 


THE  BEARINGS  OF   MODERN   COMMERCE  ON 
THE  PROGRESS  OF  MODERN  MISSIONS. 

BY 

REV.    JOHN    S.   STONE,   D.   D. 

Surely  the  isles  shall  wait  for  me,  and  the  ships  of  Tarshish  first,  to  bring  thy  sons 
from  far,  their  silver  and  their  gold  with  them,  unto  the  name  of  the  Lord  thy  God, 
and  to  the  Holy  One  of  Israel,  because  he  hath  glorified  thee.  — Isaiah  69 :  9. 

This  passage  is  from  a  most  glowing  prophetic  description 
of  the  ultimately  universal  spread  of  the  Gospel  through  our 
world.  It  is  from  a  prophecy,  which  foreshows,  not  only  that 
every  land  shall  be  subjected  to  Christ,  but  also  that  "  the 
abundance  of  the  sea  shall  be  converted  unto  him."  In  this 
great  work  of  winning  the  world,  commerce,  it  seems,  is  to 
take  a  conspicuous  part.  While  "  the  isles  "  wait  for  Christ, 
"  the  ships  of  Tarshish  "  are  to  be  "  first "  in  bringing  the 
sons  of  Zion  from  far,  with  their  silver  and  their  gold  as  an 
offering  unto  "  the  name  of  the  Lord  their  God,"  and  as  con- 
secrated means  in  the  hands  of  Him,  who  hath  steadfastly 
purposed  to  "  glorify  the  house  of  his  glory." 

Among  all  the  means  used  in  converting  the  human  race 
to  Christ,  commerce,  no  doubt,  is  to  be  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant. Three-fifths  of  the  earth's  surface  are  covered  with 
waters  ;  while  the  remaining  fifths  lie  in  the  shape  of  two 
vast  continents,  and  of  innumerable  isles,  —  the  abodes  of 
men,  and  the  depositories  of  those  treasures  which  God  has 
given  for  the  use  of  men.  Between  these,  the  great  deep  is 
a  broad  highway  ;  and  commerce,  with  her  ships,  the  only 
system  of  intercommunication.  Without  commerce,  neither 
science  nor  art,  neither  civilization  nor  religion,  could  spread 
beyond  the  boundaries  of  the  land  of  their  birth.  All  other 
agencies,  not  purely  spiritual,  are,  when  left  to  themselves, 
local.  Commerce  has  the  only  created  arm  that  can  reach 
round  the  globe. 


248  THE   BEARINGS    OF    MODERN    COMMERCE 

This,  then,  is  the  grand  agent  which  God  has  prepared  for 
himself,  and  which  he  purposes  to  use  in  the  work  of  gather- 
ing in  the  nations  to  Christ,  and  in  collecting  the  gold  and 
silver,  the  redundant  means,  which  that  work  demands.  The 
connection  of  commerce  with  the  spread  of  the  Gospel,  is, 
therefore,  a  thought  full  of  interest.  To  its  development,  so 
far  as  the  nature  of  the  occasion,  and  the  special  object  in 
view  will  admit,  I  now  invite  your  attention.  I  restrict 
myself  to  the  hearings  of  modern  commerce  on  the  progress 
of  modern  missioiis  ;  and,  even  in  this  view,  shall  find  more 
than  can  be  adequately  surveyed  in  the  short  time  allotted  to 
our  examination. 

I.  By  modern  commerce,  I  mean  that  which  has  over- 
spread the  earth  since  the  invention  of  the  mariner's  com- 
pass, and  the  consequent  discovery,  in  1492,  of  a  new  world, 
as  distinguished  from  that  ancient  commerce,  which,  having  no 
trusty  guide,  crept  only  along  the  shores,  and  explored  only 
the  inlets  and  interior  waters  of  the  old  continent.  This  mo- 
dern commerce  is  now  the  mightiest  body  of  human  power, 
that  can  be  found  in  action  on  our  world.  From  an  unskilled 
infant,  with  little  or  nothing  of  experience,  it  has  grown  to  a 
colossal  giant,  as  dextrous  in  its  skill  as  it  is  resistless  in  its 
power.  In  the  discovery  and  application  of  steam,  it  has  im- 
pressed into  its  service  nearly  all  the  agencies  of  nature ;  and 
it  wields  them  with  all  the  certainty  of  science,  and  with  all 
the  efficiency  of  experience.  With  this  subtle  power,  it  out- 
strips the  wind  upon  the  ocean,  and  almost  copes  in  speed 
with  the  eagle  on  the  land.  With  this  viewless  and  resistless 
agent,  it  has  opened  the  bowels  of  the  earth,  and  penetrated 
the  solitudes  of  the  wilderness ;  and,  in  the  results  of  agri- 
culture, manufactures,  and  mining,  has  made  ancient  lands  pay 
new  tribute  to  the  main,  and  new  regions  unlock  their  before 
hidden  treasures  to  its  grasp. 

I  spread  the  definition  of  modern  commerce  over  these 
operations  on  laiid,  not  because  the  text  has  special  reference 
to  so  broad  a  system,  but  because  from  the  beginning  the  sys- 
tem has  been  actuated  by  one  spirit ;  because  the  whole  body 
of  the  great  business  world  has  but  one  soul  ;  and  because 
commerce  in  her  ships  is  but  the  grand  carrier  for  commerce 
on  licr  wheels. 

This,  then,  is  the  commerce  of  which  I  speak  ;  that  which 
has  been  growing  up  in  the  world  for  the  last  three  hundred 
and  fifty  years.     It  is  this,  the  bearings  of  which  on  modern 


ON    THE   PROGRESS    OF  MODERN   MISSIONS.  249 

missions,  we  are  now  to  examine  ;  on  modern  missions,  as 
distinguished  from  ancient ;  as  springing  up  at  the  same  time, 
and  operating  through  the  same  period,  with  that  commerce  by 
which  they  have  been  affected. 

This  commerce,  the  word  of  God  justifies  us  in  believing, 
is  at  least  a  part  of  that  which  is  to  be  instrumental  in  the 
divine  work  of  evangelizing  mankind,  in  bringing  all  her  sons 
into  the  church  of  Christ,  and  in  furnishing  for  the  Lord  the 
silver  and  the  gold,  the  mere  human  means,  which  his  enter- 
prise of  mercy  requires.  Has  this  commerce  thus  far  done 
the  work  for  which  it  has  been  raised  up  ?  Has  it  yet  been 
God*s  handmaid  in  gathering  the  nations  to  Christ,  or  in  car- 
rying to  them  that  Gospel  of  salvation,  which  teaches  man  to 
love  the  Lord  his  God  with  all  his  heart,  and  his  neighbor  as 
himself ;  to  recompense  to  no  man  evil  for  evil,  but  rather  to 
overcome  evil  with  good  ;  that  Gospel,  which  is  truth,  and 
justice,  and  temperance — which  is  purity,  and  love,  and  peace, 
and  which  is  intended  to  make  earth  like  heaven,  and  man  like 
God  "^  Has  commerce  yet  taken  her  destined  part  in  doing 
this  her  destined  work  ?  For  an  answer,  let  us  take  as  brief 
a  survey  as  possible  of  her  doings. 

II.  I  begin  by  premising  one  thing.  It  is  undoubtedly 
true,  that  modern  commerce  has  been  the  occasion  of  a  great 
extension  of  the  arts  of  civilization,  and  of  the  blessings  of 
true  religion.  Within  the  last  half  century  especially,  her 
ships  have  wafted  the  true  missionary  of  the  cross,  with  the 
true  Gospel  of  Christ,  and  with  the  elements  of  true  Christ- 
ian civilization,  to  almost  every  part  of  the  earth.  And  in 
almost  numberless  ways,  through  the  channels  which  she  has 
opened,  almost  numberless  blessings  have  been  spread  over 
the  world.  Walls  of  separation  have  been  broken  down  ; 
nations  have  been  brought  closer  together  ;  and  the  bonds  of 
one  universal  brotherhood  have  begun  to  be  woven  around 
the  one  great  family  of  man.  But,  then,  all  this  has  been 
but  an  incident  to  the  system,  not  its  main  object,  nor  yet  its 
main  result.  It  has  not  grown  out  of  the  spirit  and  tendency 
of  commerce,  but  has  come  to  pass  in  spite  of  that  spirit  and 
tendency.  Commerce  has  spread  these  blessings,  just  as  war 
has  spread  them.  The  object  of  war  is  not  to  civilize  and 
Christianize,  but  to  conquer  and  subdue.  But,  then,  in  its 
shock,  refined  nations  sometimes  mix  with  barbarous  ;  and 
thus,  even  though  in  letters  of  bloody  teach  them  lessons  of  a 
thousand  things,  which  before  they  never  knew.     So  it  has 


250  THE    BEARINGS    OF    MODERN    COMMERCE 

been  with  commerce.  The  blessings  which  she  has  carried, 
were  not  in  her  heart.  They  only  followed  unbidden  in  her 
train.  They  went,  not  hij  her,  but  with  her,  and  often  in 
spite  of  her.  While,  therefore,  we  must  not  be  unmindful  of 
the  good  of  which  she  has  been  the  occasion,  this  good  must 
not  be  suffered  to  blind  us  to  her  real  character,  and  to  her 
own  proper  works.  To  proceed,  then,  in  our  proposed  exam- 
ination. 

Unfortunately,  modern  commerce  awoke  at  a  time  when 
Christianity  had  been  sleeping  for  a  thousand  years  in  the  i 
growing,  thickening  darkness  of  a  spiritual  night ;  a  night,  ' 
which,  as  usual,  grew  darker  and  darker  till  the  very  break 
of  day.  Amongst  the  monstrous  things  engendered  in  that 
night  of  darkness,  was  the  grand  usurpation  of  the  Papacy, 
which  arrogated  to  itself  the  prerogative  of  Almighty  God. 
"  The  Pope,"  to  use  the  language  of  the  historian  Robertson, 
"  as  the  vicar  and  representative  of  Jesus  Christ,  was  sup- 
posed to  have  a  right  of  dominion  over  all  the  kingdoms  of 
the  earth."  Nor  was  this  an  unexercised  right.  For,  imme- 
diately after  the  discovery  of  the  new  world,  a  mere  "  Italian 
priest  boldly  presumed  to  give  away  God's  earth,  as  if  he 
sat  God's  acknowledged  vicegerent.  Splitting  this  mighty 
planet  into  two  imaginary  halves,  he  handed  one  to  the  Span- 
ish, and  the  other  to  the  Portuguese  monarch ;  "*  thus  pre- 
tending to  convey  to  each  a  right  to  all  the  countries  within 
their  assigned  limits  which  they  might  discover,  not  already 
occupied  by  any  Christian  nation.  And  who  were  the  peo- 
ple to  whom  this  monstrous  grant  was  made  ?  A  part  of 
the  millions  of  that  old  world  which  for  thousands  of  years 
had  been  growing  more  and  more  dense  in  population,  more 
and  more  dense  in  superstition,  more  and  more  dense  in  the 
vices  and  diseases  of  old  and  corrupt  institutions.  Lust  of 
power,  and  lust  of  gold,  having  fed  to  fatness  on  the  men  and 
the  wealth  of  Europe  and  of  Asia,  stood  eager  for  new  vic- 
tims and  new  gratification,  when  this  great  western  world  was 
thrown  open  by  the  hand  of  discovery  to  the  knowledge  of 
mankind.  And  what  was  the  character  of  this  freshly  dis- 
covered world  ?  It  was  a  paradise^  swarming  with  untold 
millions  of  simple  inhabitants,  beautiful,  confiding  and  noble 
in  their  simplicity.  It  was  a  vast  storehouse,  full  of  the  nat- 
ural wealth  of  silver  and  gold,  and  of  the  natural  beauties  and 
luxuries  of  a  most  bountiful  soil. 

*  Hewitt's  Colonization  and  Christianity,  p.  21. 


ON   THE   PROGRESS    OF   MODERN   MISSIONS.  251 

1.  Awakening  at  such  a  period,  in  view  of  such  a  prize, 
and  with  such  a  training  at  home,  modem  commerce,  became 
in  her  very  first  movement,  and  has  ever  since  continued,  a 
colonizing  spirit.  Her  ships  have  visited  the  new-discovered 
world,  not  to  communicate,  in  exchange  for  honestly  ac- 
quired wealth,  knowledge  and  civilization,  peace  and  love, 
but  to  pour  in  colonies  of  foreigners ;  to  take  possession  of 
whole  countries  in  the  name  of  an  arrogant  and  distant 
usurper;  and,  under  pretence  of  planting  the  cross,  and  of 
spreading  a  religion  of  which  they  knew  little  but  the  name, 
to  grasp  at  the  whole  incalculable  mass  of  the  treasures  of 
the  richest  portion  of  the  earth. 

2.  Under  these  circumstances,  too,  modern  commerce  soon 
became,  and  has  ever  since  continued,  a  vjar-waging  spirit. 
Having  first,  by  cruel,  exacting,  and  murderous  measures,  by 
deceit  and  treachery,  roused  the  simple  natives  of  the  West 
Indies  to  resistance,  it  opened  on  them  those  baying  mouths 
of  death,  its  musketry  and  its  cannon,  and  drove  wars  of 
extermination  through  their  beautiful  isles;  wasting  whole 
races  before  the  deep-skilled  prowess  of  tyrants,  wearing  the 
Christian  name,  and  marching  under  the  banner  of  the  cross, 
the  ensign  of  the  prince  of  peace ! 

3.  Nor  is  this  all.  Under  the  influences  which  reigned 
over  its  origin,  modern  commerce  speedily  became,  and  has 
ever  since  continued,  a  slave-making  spirit.  The  hitherto 
gentle  and  unworked  natives,  doomed  to  bleed  in  war,  to  toil 
in  the  mines,  and  to  sweat  in  the  sugar  factories  of  Hispaniola, 
vanished  like  the  morning  dew.  Then  was  first  conceived 
an  idea,  which  has  since  been  the  parent  of  the  deepest 
wrongs  and  miseries  which  this  earth  has  ever  suffered — the 
idea  of  filling  the  places  made  vacant  by  the  vanishing  of  one 
race,  with  slaves,  captured  and  dragged  thither  from  another ; 
the  idea  of  making  poor,  sable  Africa,  the  chained  menial  to 
do  the  work,  and  bear  the  frowns,  and  waste  away  under  the 
reign  of  Christian  avarice,  indolence  and  tyranny. 

4.  And  would  to  God  there  were  nothing  further  on  this 
catalogue  of  ills.  But  there  is.  The  system  which  thus  began 
its  work,  went  on  to  do  it  with  unaltered  mind.  Modern 
(commerce  early  became,  and  has  ever  since  continued,  a 
corrupting  spirit.  What  it  could  not  wholly  effect  by  treach- 
ery and  war,  exaction  and  oppression,  it  thoroughly  accom- 
plished by  corruption.  It  corrupted  the  bodies  and  the  minds 
of  the  once  beautiful  and  healthy,  the  comparatively  pure 


252  THE   BEARINGS    OF   MODERN    C03IMERCE 

and  innocent  aborigines  of  every  land  which  it  visited,  by  the 
systematic  introduction  and  supply  of  intoxicating  liquors, 
and  by  the  reckless  dissemination  of  the  dark  vices  and  deadly 
diseases  of  a  misnamed  civilization.  In  the  former,  it  opened 
on  them  the  burning  waters  of  a  river  of  death ;  and,  in  the 
latter,  poured  through  the  veins  of  both  their  bodies  and  their 
souls,  the  creeping  poisons  of  a  physical  and  a  moral  pesti- 
lence. Not  content  with  deluging  the  most  beautiful  realms 
with  those  vices  and  diseases  which  are  naturally  communi- 
cated by  the  contact  of  depraved  lust  with  unsuspecting  inno- 
cence, it  opened  the  very  prisons  and  poor-houses  of  the  old 
world,  and  vomited  forth  upon  the  new,  colonies  of  the  vile 
and  the  licentious,  of  the  thieves  and  the  assassins,  with 
which  the  dark  and  corrupt  bosom  of  so  called  Christian  Eu- 
rope teemed. 

5.  What  was  thus  begun  by  the  Spaniards  in  the  West 
Indies,  has  been  continued  by  every  commercial  nation  in 
every  portion  of  the  aboriginal  and  pagan  world,  through  the 
movements  of  an  essentially  colonizing,  war-waging,  slave- 
making,  and  corrupting  commerce,  whetting  into  fury  its 
deep  lust  of  gold,  at  the  sight  of  boundless  treasures  not  its 
own,  and, — under  the  delusive  idea  of  spreading  a  Christianity 
which  it  did  not  comprehend,  and  a  civilization  which  it  did 
not  possess, — conquering,  enslaving  and  wasting  the  fairest 
and  the  richest  lands  on  earth. 

6.  Moreover,  what  was  thus  begun  by  commerce  under  the 
direction  of  Papal  governments,  was  continued  by  commerce, 
under  the  direction  of  Protestant  governments.  Reformed  in 
its  main  doctrines,  Christianity  did  not  become  reformed  in  its 
entire  spirit.  The  effects  of  a  thousand  years  of  error  and 
corruption,  could,  with  comparative  ease  be  expunged  from 
the  creed  of  the  church.  But  they  had  lingered  deeply  and 
long  in  the  hearts  of  men.  The  Papal  doctrine  that  "  the 
heathen  were  given  to  believers  as  a  possession,"  became 
protestantized ;  and  the  robber's  principle,  that  "  one  outrage 
being  committed,  a  second,  or  a  series  of  outrages  must  be 
perpetrated  to  prevent  punishment  and  secure  the  booty,*'  has 
operated,  if  in  a  different  way,  yet  quite  as  strongly,  in  the 
policy  of  the  British  East  India  Company,  as  it  did  in  that  of 
the  Spanish  conquest  of  Mexico.  So  far  as  the  system  of 
commercial  aggrandizement  is  concerned,  irrespectively,  of 
course,  of  many  individuals  engaged  in  it,  but  one  spirit  has 
actuated  the  whole,  from  its  conception  to  its  present  maturity, 


ON    THE   PROGRESS   OF   MODERN   MISSIONS.  253 

under  Papal  and  under  Protestant  auspices ;  and  this  spirit, 
hi  the  words  of  a  writer  already  quoted,  has  been  "a  fiery, 
.ibid,  quenchless  lust  of  gold;"  a  passion,  which,  while  it 
iives  at  home,  is  decently  attired,  and  moderately  restrained ; 
but  which,  when  it  goes  abroad,  and  stands  in  sight  of  the 
gold  and  the  diamond  mine,  in  sight  of  the  rice-field  and  the 
cane-brake,  in  sight  of  the  spicery  and  every  other  product  of 
a  prodigal  earth,  strips  itself  to  nakedness,  and,  in  its  uncov- 
ered deformity,  breaks  every  bond  by  which  mankind  are 
united,  and,  with  unchecked  rapine  and  violence,  deceives, 
robs,  oppresses  and  murders,  without  remorse ;  and,  all  this 
while,  boasting  of  its  civilization,  and  professing  to  bring  to 
poor,  benighted,  barbarous  heathen,  a  religion  from  heaven  — 
the  religion  of  the  Gospel  of  peace  and  love,  of  truth  and 
equity. 

7.  To  give  a  history  of  all  this  would,  of  course,  be  impos- 
sible within  the  limits  of  a  sermon.  It  would  be  to  take  you 
through  the  long  horrors  of  those  scenes,  amidst  which  the 
Spaniards  conquered,  wasted  and  depopulated  the  beautiful 
West  Indies,  the  mighty  empire  of  Mexico,  the  dominions  of 
the  mysterious  Incas  of  golden  Peru,  and  the  fair  fields  of 
wide-spreading,  silvery  Paraguay ;  —  of  those  scenes,  amidst 
which  the  Portuguese  wrought  the  same  enormities,  through- 
out that  land  of  the  diamond  mine,  the  broad  Brazil,  and  on 
the  rich  isles  and  peninsulas  of  Eastern  India;  of  those 
scenes,  amidst  which  the  Protestant  Dutch  became  successors 
in  the  East  to  the  realms  and  to  the  spirit  of  their  Portuguese 
predecessors,  and  enacted,  with  deepening  barbarity,  the  tra- 
gedy, which  those  predecessors  had  opened,  among  the  peace- 
ful and  gentle  Hindoos ;  of  those  scenes,  amidst  which  the  com- 
merce of  Britain, —  humane,  noble,  Christian  Britain, —  intro- 
duced and  carried  forward  its  system  of  territorial  acquisition, 
in  Bengal  and  throughout  all  Hindostan,  in  New-Holland 
and  through  the  myriad  isles  of  the  smiling  Pacific,  filling  the 
most  extensive  and  populous  regions  with  some  of  the  blood- 
iest and  most  devastating  curses  ever  felt,  poured  out,  too, 
by  the  hand  of  a  people,  who  boast  of  being  the  most  polished 
and  Christianized  on  earth ;  of  those  scenes,  amidst  which  the 
French  run  a  shorter  but  scarcely  less  tragic  race  of  compe- 
tition with  their  commercial  rivals,  in  Canada,  Newfoundland, 
Nova  Scotia,  Madagascar,  Mauritius,  Guiana,  some  of  the 
West  India  Islands,  and  parts  of  the  East  Indian  and  African 
Coasts ;  of  those  scenes,  amidst  which  the  Dutch  and  their 
22 


254  THE   BEARINGS    OF   MODERN    COMMERCE 

successors,  the  English,  in  South  Africa,  have  proved  them- 
selves more  barbarous,  an  hundred  fold,  than  the  so  called 
barbarian  Hottentots,  Caffres  and  Bushmen,  whom  they  have 
hunted,  murdered,  and  exterminated ;  and  finally,  of  those 
scenes  nearer  home,  amidst  which  the  combined  and  succes- 
sive cruelties  of  the  French,  the  English  and  the  inhabitants- 
of  our  own  United  States,  have,  for  two  hundred  years,  by 
treachery  and  the  sword,  by  disseminated  intemperance  and 
disease,  been  weakening,  wasting  and  blotting  out  the  thou- 
sand tribes  of  one  of  the  once  finest  races  of  men  that  God 
ever  formed,  —  the  aborigines  of  our  own  North  America  I 

Think  not  that  all  this  would  be  leading  you  through 
scenes  of  imagination,  —  the  regions  of  mere  poetry.  Alas  I 
they  are  regions  too  seriously,  too  sadly  real ;  scenes,  in 
which  a  sterner  hand  than  that  of  imagination  has  been,  and 
still  is,  doing  its  work  !  Sober  history  has  written  bloody 
facts  all  over  her  wide  page,  as  the  chronicler  of  the  move- 
ments of  modern  commerce.  Were  I  to  give  you  the  parti- 
culars of  what  I  have  exhibited  merely  in  outline,  you  would 
only  wonder  at  the  feebleness  of  the  sketch,  and  perhaps  be 
thankful  that  a  weak  hand  has  not  been  able  to  torture  you 
with  a  picture  to  the  life,  of  what  nations,  professedly  Christ- 
ian, have  been  doing  in  the  dark  and  distant  realms  of  our 
world.  It  is  sufficiently  mournful  to  look  over  the  page  of 
ancient  history,  and  read  the  acts  of  ancient  heroes,  conquer- 
ors, and  enslavers  of  mankind  ;  the  Pharaohs  and  the  Nebu- 
chadnezzars,  the  Alexanders  and  the  Csesars  of  the  East  ;  — 
of  their  wars,  their  burnings,  and  their  tortures  ;  of  their 
vices,  their  crimes,  and  their  nameless  abominations  ;  —  how 
they  filled  the  earth  with  misery,  and  made  mankind  drunk 
with  its  bitter  mixture !  But  it  is  more  mournful,  to  look  over 
that  freshly  written  page,  at  which  I  have  pointed.  Modern 
'commerce,  during  the  three  hundred  and  fifty  years  of  her  reign, 
has  furnished  for  herself  the  materials  of  a  darker,  bloodier  his- 
tory, than  that  which  has  been  written  of  the  tyrants  of  the 
earth,  during  the  whole  four  thousand  years  of  ante- Christian 
barbarism  !  This  commercial  spirit  has  had  a  wider  field  on 
which  to  act,  and  more  powerful  enginery  to  put  in  action ;  and 
she  has  filled  her  field  to  fulness,  and  moved  her  enginery  to  the 
utmost  of  its  power.  The  ancients  conquered,  but  they  did  not 
exterminate ;  they  enslaved,  but  they  did  not  corrupt ;  they 
burned  cities,  but  they  did  not  annihilate  races.  The  finish- 
ing up  of  the  extremes  of  wickedness,  barbarity,  and  pollution, 


ON  THE   PROGRESS    OP  MODERN   MISSIONS.    .      255 

seems  to  have  been  left  for  nations  calling  themselves  civil- 
ized, boasting  of  their  humanity,  and  professing  to  spread,  or 
at  least  to  believe,  the  religion  of  the  Cross,  the  Gospel  of  the 
Prince  of  peace  ;  —  a  religion  of  love  and  good- will,  of  truth 
and  purity. 

To  show  that  the  agents  of  modern  commerce  have  not, 
even  yet,  done  working  up  the  dark  picture  of  their  atroci- 
ties, I  need  only  refer  you  to  what  has  just  been  passing  in 
the  East,  in  the  efforts  of  British  merchants  to  introduce  and 
extend  into  all-populous  China  that  awful  curse,  the  opium 
trade.  If  missionaries,  by  the  help  of  coasting  vessels,  at- 
tempt to  introduce  into  that  vast  empire  the  Word  of  Life, 
men  at  home  grow  at  once  exceedingly  conscientious,  and  cry 
out  against  the  effort,  as  an  interference  with  the  religious 
institutions  of  the  land.  But  they  make  no  scruple  in  illicitly 
introducing  there  the  drug  of  deaths  and  that,  in  the  face  of 
the  most  solemnly  proclaimed  prohibitions  of  the  emperor 
and  his  government.  I  do  not  suppose  they  would  feel  any 
special  pleasure  in  murdering,  outright,  the  three  hundred 
millions  of  China  ;  yet,  for  the  sake  of  abstracting  the  im- 
mense wealth  of  the  country,  they  would  not  hesitate  to  do 
what  is  worse,  to  besot  both  their  bodies  and  their  souls  with 
a  poison,  which,  in  its  work  of  human  destruction,  has  few 
compeers,  and  still  fewer  superiors. 

III.  Let  us  now  look  at  the  effect  of  all  this  upon  modem 
missions,  upon  the  spread  of  the  Gospel  during  the  same  three 
hundred  and  fifty  years  which  we  have  been  surveying. 

When  Commerce,  with  her  newly -invented  mariner's  com- 
pass in  her  hand,  went  forth  to  the  discovery  of  a  new  world, 
peopled  with  before  unknown  races  of  men,  simple  and  guile- 
less, generous  and  trusting  —  what  a  precious,  what  a  glorious 
opportunity  was  presented,  for  carrying  to  them  the  blessings 
of  real  civilization,  of  useful  knowledge,  and  of  pure  reli- 
gion ;  and  thus,  for  pouring  the  very  soul  of  a  heaven- 
descended  Christianity  into  the  minds,  into  the  social  state, 
and  into  the  political  and  religious  institutions  of  those,  who 
looked  up  to  the  newly  arrived  with  feelings  of  veneration, 
as  to  beings  of  a  superior  order  !  How  was  this  opportunity 
improved  ?  By  holding  out  at  first  a  wooden  cross,  as  the 
symbol  of  an  unexplained  Gospel,  and  calling  on  the  wonder- 
ing multitudes  to  bow  down  and  worship  ;  and  then,  in  their 
bowed  down  posture,  loading  them  with  every  form  and  with 
every  extreme  of  intolerable  wrong.    Instead  of  christianize 


256       •      THE   BEARINGS    OF   MODERN    COMMERCE 

ing,  the  process  exterminated.  In  the  West  Indies,  the  whole 
native  population  became  speedily  extinct  ;  the  ten  millions 
of  that  remarkable  race,  the  noble  Charibs,  vanished  like  a 
morning  mist  before  their  oppressors.  They  bled  in  war  ; 
they  wasted  away  in  the  mines ;  they  toiled  to  death  in  the 
sugar-mills  ;  they  were  torn  in  pieces  by  trained  squadrons 
of  ferocious  dogs  ;  and  they  pined  and  died  in  the  dens  and 
caves,  whither  they  had  fled  from  the  foot  of  their  civilized 
persecutors  ;  until,  at  length,  their  native  lands  held  scarcely 
a  remaining  trace  of  their  once  beautiful  forms.  They  had 
disappeared  from  the  earth  ;  and,  as  their  spirits  vanished, 
they  went,  full  of  execrations  upon  the  very  name  of  that 
Christianity,  which  should  have  been  the  instrument  of  both- 
their  temporal  and  their  eternal  salvation. 

In  Mexico  and  Peru,  history  records  that  the  Spanish  sword- 
drank  the  blood  of  forty  millions  of  their  sons.  The  w^hole^ 
Indian  race  in  Newfoundland  is  extinct.  Entire  tribes  in 
South  Africa,  and  in  North  America,  are  no  more  ;  while,  in' 
numerous  lands  and  islands,  great  races  of  aboriginal  and 
pagan  men  are  wasting  away  to  weakness  and  nothingnesa 
before  the  relentless  approach  of  a  power,  bearing  the  ensign- 
of  life,  but  doing  the  work  of  death  ! 

Where  this  power  has  not  exterminated,  it  has  wrought 
evils  of  a  perhaps  darker  character.  It  has  actually  ren- 
dered the  living  savage  more  savage,  and  the  living  heathen 
more  heathen  than  ever.  It  has  made,  not  Christianity,  —  for 
of  this  little  or  nothing  has  been  carried  by  the  agents  of  this^ 
power, — ^but  the  name  of  Christianity,  an  offence  and  a 
<;^loathing  to  the  pagan  world.'  Through  all  the  realms  of  hea- 
thenism, it  has  made  that  name  synonymous  with  hypocrisy 
and  deceit,  cunning  and  fraud,  oppression  and  cruelty,  avarice 
and  extortion,  pollution  and  crime.  In  this  state  of  things, 
let  the  true  missionary  of  the  cross  approach,  and  offer  the- 
genuine  religion  of  the  Gospel,  as  a  light  from  heaven,  and  as 
the  only  means  of  purity  and  of  salvation  to  benighted  man  ; 
and  with  what  answer  is  he  met  ?  "  Go  home,  and  convert 
your  own  countrymen ;  cleanse  your  own  seamen  ;  regenerate 
the  agents  of  your  death-dealing  commerce,  and  thus  show 
that  your  religion  is  the  boasted  blessing  which  you  represent. 
Then  come  to  us,  and  we  will  listen  to  your  instructions,  and 
examine  the  claims  of  the  Gospel  which  you  bring." 

We  hear  often  of  failures  in  the  foreign  missionary  work  ; 
of  the  treasures  of  benevolence  lavished  in  vain,  and  of  the 


ON   THE   PROGRESS    OF   MODERN    MISSIONS.   ,        257 

lives  of  the  benevolent  thrown  away  for  nought.  And  these 
things,  when  they  happen,  are  trumpeted  abroad  with  a  note 
of  triumph,  as  though  there  were,  even  here  at  home,  a  spirit 
which  exulted  in  the  failures,  and  stood  gloating  at  the  pros- 
pect of  utter  defeat  to  the  movements  of  Christianity.  But 
whence  these  failures  ?  From  the  inadequacy  of  the  means 
employed  ?  From  the  misdirection  of  Christian  effort  ? 
From  the  indomitable  character  of  savage  and  of  pagan  vices 
and  superstitions  ?  No,  not  from  any  one,  or  from  all  of 
these  causes  together.  Proofs  of  this  assertion  will  come  in 
their  proper  place.  But  Christian  missions  fail,  when  they 
do  fail,  because  they  cannot  penetrate  where  modern  com- 
merce has  not  been  ;  because,  as  soon  as  the  faithful  mission- 
ary of  the  cross  has  begun  to  succeed  in  turning  the  miserable 
heathen  from  his  idols,  and  in  cleansing  them  from  their  pol- 
lutions, modern  commerce,  with  its  heart  still  lusting  for  gold, 
and  fearful  of  losing  its  prey,  rushes  in,  and,  with  its  four  great 
maces,  war,  slavery,  intemperance,  and  disease,  beats  to  the 
earth  the  work  of  heavenly  benevolence,  and  knocks  in  head 
the  new-born  hopes  of  regenerated  tribes ! 

A  most  remarkable  instance  of  this  interference  is,  at  this 
moment,  presented  in  the  case  of  those  numerous  and  beauti- 
ful islands  in  the  Southern  Pacific,  which  have  been  visited 
and  blessed  by  the  faithful  missionaries  of  Christian  England 
and  America,  and  which  may  be  considered  as,  in  an  encour- 
aging sense,  already  civilized.  These  islands  are  spread  in 
various  directions  from  the  great  insular  continent.  New  Hol- 
land, the  seat  of  that  monster  evil,  the  penal  colony  of  the 
British  government,  its  Botany  Bay,  the  vile  home  of  its 
transported,  convicted  felons.  By  this  fatal  neighborhood, 
and  the  mischievous  commerce  of  which  it  is  the  centre,  all 
these  triumphs  of  the  Gospel  amongst  the  islands  are  put  in 
jeopardy.  To  use  the  language  of  a  recent  writer  in  Eng- 
land,=^  "  All  this  springing  civilization,  this  young  Christian- 
ity, this  scene  of  beauty  and  peace,  are  endangered.  The 
founders  of  a  new  and  happier  state,  the  pioneers  and  arti- 
ficers of  civilization,  stand  aghast  at  the  ruin  that  threatens 
their  labors,  that  threatens  the  welfare,  nay,  the  very  exist- 
ence, of  the  simple  islanders,  amongst  whom  they  have 
wrought  such  miracles  of  love  and  order.  And  whence 
arises  this  danger  ?     Whence  comes  this  threatened  ruin  ?  " 

*  Howitt. 
22* 


25B  THE   BEARINGS    OF   MODERN    COMMERCE 

"  The  savages  of  Europe,  the  most  heartless  and 

merciless  race  that  ever  inhabited  the  earth  —  a  race,  for  the 
range  and  continuance  of  its  atrocities,  without  a  parallel  in 
this  world,  and,  it  may  be  safely  believed,  in  cmy  other,  —  are 
busy  in  the  South  Sea  Islands.  A  roving  clan  of  sailors  and 
runaway  convicts  have  revived,  once  more,  the  crimes  and 
character  of  the  old  buccaneers.  They  go  from  island  to 
island,  diffusing  gin,  debauchery,  loathsome  diseases,  and  mur- 
der, as  freely  as  if  they  were  the  greatest  blessings  that 
Europe  had  to  bestow.  They  are  the  restless  and  trium- 
phant apostles  of  misery  and  destruction  ;  and  such  are  their 
achievements,  that  it  is  declared,  unless  government  interpose 
some  check  to  their  progress,  they  will  as  completely  annihi- 
late the  islanders,  as  the  Charibs  were  annihilated  in  the  West 
Indies."  .  .  .  .  "  What  a  shocking  thing  is  this  !  that,  when 
Christianity  has  been  professed  in  Europe  for  eighteen  hundred 
years,  it  is  from  Europe  that  the  most  dreadful  corruption  of 
morals,  and  the  most  dismal  defiance  of  every  sound  principle, 
come  I  If  Christianity,  despised  and  counterfeited  by  its  an- 
cient professors,  flies  to  some  remote  corner  of  the  globe,  and 
there  unfolds  to  simple,  admiring  eyes  her  blessings  and  her 
charms,  out  from  Europe  rush  hordes  of  lawless  savages,  to 
chase  her  thence,  and  level  to  the  dust  the  dwellings,  and  the 
very  being  of  her  votaries."  All  this  has  been  corroborated, 
by  sober  investigation,  before  members  of  that  august  body, 
the  British  parliament. 

IV.  But,  let  us  turn  to  more  cheering  views.  In  this 
picture  of  darkness,  all  is  not  dark.  Facts  and  reasonings, 
mil  of  light,  remain  to  be  exhibited  ;  and  the  Christian's 
spirit  finds  a  blessed  relief,  in  passing  out  from  what  is  so 
shocking  to  moral  sentiment,  and  in  giving  itself  up  to  the 
contemplation  of  what  is  more  congenial  with  Christian  hope. 

I  remark,  then,  that — much  as  modern  commerce  has  done  to 
make  the  savage  more  savage  and  the  heathen  more  heathen, 
to  make  the  name  of  Christianity  a  loathing  and  that  of  civil- 
ization synonymous  with  a  curse,  —  all  this  may  be  undone^ 
and  the  aborigines  and  the  pagan  still  reconciled  to  the  Gos- 
pel, if  governments,  merchant  companies,  and  trading  men, 
will  but  learn  justice,  truth,  and  mercy  in  their  dealings,  and 
leave  unobstructed  Christianity  to  do  her  own  proper  work. 
Even  the  dismal  past  holds  an  ample  store  of  facts,  in  proof  of 
this  position. 

While  the  Spaniards  and  Portuguese,  in  Pai*aguay  and 


ON   THE   PROGRESS    OF  MODERN  MISSIONS.  259 

Brazil,  were  doing  their  dark  work  of  conquest  and  of  plun- 
der, the  Jesuit  missionaries  introduced  themselves  among  the 
natives  ;  and,  though  they  carried  with  them  a  deeply  cor- 
rupted Christianity,  yet,  carrying  also,  for  once  at  least,  the 
true  spirit  of  love,  and  peace,  and  simple  confidence  in  God, 
they  wrought  wonders  of  mercy  among  the  untaught  children 
of  the  new  world.  The  Jesuit  became  the  Indian^s  friend. 
Multitudes  flocked  to  their  teaching  ;  and  their  numerous  re- 
ductions, or  settlements,  became,  amidst  the  wide  moral  waste 
around,  scenes  of  smiling  peace  and  beauty  ;  blessed  with  the 
arts  of  life,  and,  so  far  as  Christianity  was  understood,  with 
the  fruits  of  religion  ;  —  scenes,  which  might  have  continued 
smiling  to  this  day,  had  not  the  greedy  colonists,  hungering 
for  gold,  and  reluctant  to  lose  their  prey,  poured  in  upon  them 
with  murderous  fury,  broke  up  their  settlements,  scattered 
the  works  of  the  missionaries  to  the  winds,  and  made  the 
memory  of  them  like  the  fragments  of  a  beautiful,  but  cruelly 
broken  dream ! 

What  was  the  effect,  in  this  country,  when  Roger  Williams 
and  William  Penn,  —  on  whom,  perhaps,  too  much  praise  was 
not  bestowed,  when  they  were  called  two  of  "  the  most  per- 
fect Christian  statesmen  that  ever  breathed,"  —  throwing  them- 
selves in  simple  faith  on  the  Providence  of  God,  on  the  power 
of  his  Gospel,  and  on  the  truth  and  generosity  of  savage 
hearts,  went  forward  to  the  settlement  of  their  colonies  in  the 
spirit  of  honest  purchase,  good  faith,  and  affectionate  confi- 
dence ?  Did  they  meet  with  treachery,  cruelty,  incapacity  for 
civilization,  and  a  stubborn  rejection  of  the  Gospel  ?  No. 
They  were  looked  up  to  as  godlike  benefactors  ;  they  concili- 
ated the  confidence  and  affection  of  the  aborigines  ;  they  won 
the  fidelity  of  hearts,  that  never  wavered  from  their  faith  ;  and 
they  put  in  movement  that  work  of  civilization  and  of  conver- 
sion to  Christianity,  which,  had  it  not  been,  as  in  all  other 
cases,  broken  up  by  the  cupidity,  cruelty,  and  faithlessness  of 
neighbor  colonists,  professing  their  creed,  but  not  exhibiting 
their  spirit,  would  have  left  among  us  Christianized  and 
ennobled  specimens  of  a  now  vanished  race ;  a  race  with  whom 
we  should  have  been  proud  to  hold  the  alliances  of  a  refined 
and  elevated  life. 

What  was  the  effect  in  South  Africa,  when,  after  Dutch 
and  English  barbarity  had  almost  exterminated  what  we  have 
been  prone  to  consider  the  most  degraded  of  human  beings  — 
the  Hottentot  race  —  a  few  of  them,  abandoning  their  own 


260  THE   BEABINGS    OF   MODERN   COMMERCE 

country  to  their  oppressors,  were  allowed  to  choose  a  new 
spot  in  the  wilderness,  and  there,  almost  without  agricultural 
implements,  to  try,  under  the  direction  of  the  faithful,  sympa- 
thizing Christian  missionary,  the  experiment  of  taking  care 
of  themselves  ;  unaided,  as  they  were,  to  furnish  their  fami- 
lies with  sustenance,  and  to  maintain  their  settlement  against 
the  incursions  of  the  hostile  savage  from  the  wild  ?  What 
was  the  effect  ?  Why,  in  a  few  years'  time,  spent  in  digging 
roots  with  their  fingers,  fashioning  rude  implements  of  hus- 
bandry for  themselves,  and  defending  their  households  with 
little  more  than  the  good  right  arms  which  God  had  given 
them,  they  became  a  comparatively  flourishing  agricultural 
people,  with  schools,  and  a  church,  and  temperance  societies  ; 
at  peace,  and  in  love  among  themselves,  respected  and  joined 
in  alliance  by  the  once  hostile  Caffre,  rejoicing  in  the  bright 
hopes  of  the  Gospel,  and  presenting  a  specimen  of  our  na- 
ture which  put  to  shame  the  character  of  those  European 
oppressors,  whose  tender  mercies  had  merely  suffered  them 
thus  to  conquer  for  themselves  a  name  and  a  place  among 
men  ! 

And  what  has  been  the  effect  of  more  recent  missionary 
effort  among  the  untutored  and  once  cannibal  natives  of  the 
South  Sea  Islands  ?  It  has  been  almost  to  bring  back  the 
age  of  miracles ;  and,  —  unless  commerce,  with  her  already 
begun  trade  in  alcohol  and  disease,  hatchets  and  murdering 
knives,  should  again  succeed  in  arresting  the  triumphs  of  the 
Gospel,  and  in  pouring  darkness  over  the  light  of  that  new- 
born Christianity, — it  will  be  to  make  those  myriad  isles  smile 
as  rejoicingly,  under  the  full  radiance  of  heavenly  day,  as  they 
do  amidst  the  beams  of  nature's  sun,  and  the  bounties  of  na- 
ture's God. 

But  perhaps  the  most  signal  instance  of  the  triumphs  of 
the  Gospel,  over  all  the  obstacles  which  modern  commerce 
has  thrown  in  its  way,  has  been  exhibited  among  the  Griquas 
of  South  Africa.  These  were  a  peculiar  race,  the  offspring 
of  European  colonists  and  Hottentot  women  ;  driven  as  out- 
casts from  their  guilty  progenitors,  and  left,  unportioned,  to  a 
wild,  wandering,  marauding  life,  till  they  became  really  the 
most  wretched  and  filthy  of  the  human  race,  "  abandoned  to 
witchcraft,  drunkenness,  licentiousness,  and  all  the  conse- 
quences which  arise  from  the  unchecked  growth  of  such 
vices."  But  the  missionary  came.  Patient  and  heavenly  in 
his  spirit,  he  followed  them  for  five  years  in  their  wander- 


ON   THE   PROGRESS    OF  MODERN   MISSIONS.  261 

ings,  till,  at  length,  they  were  "  reduced  to  a  settled  and  agri- 
cultural life  ; "  "  brought  to  live  in  the  most  perfect  har- 
mony "  with  those  whom  they  had  delighted  to  murder,  and 
enabled  to  engage  in  a  profitable  and  improving  traffic  with 
the  colonists.  Well,  then,  might  the  author  who  records  this, 
exclaim,  "  Let  our  profound  statesmen,  who  go  on,  from  gen- 
eration to  generation,  fighting  and  maintaining  armies,  .... 
look  at  this,  and  see  how  infinitely,  simple  men,  with  but  one 
principle  of  action  to  guide  them, —  Christianity, —  outdo  them 
in  their  own  profession  !  They  are  your  missionaries,  after 
all  the  boast  and  pride  of  statesmanship,  who  have  ever  yet 
hit  upon  the  only  true  and  sound  policy,  even  in  a  worldly 
point  of  view  ;  who,  when  profound  statesmen  have  turned 
men  into  miserable  and  exasperated  savages,  are  obliged  to 
go  and  again  turn  them  from  savages  to  men  ;  who,  when 
these  wise  statesmen  have  spent  their  country's  money  by 
millions,  and  shed  their  fellow  creatures*  blood  by  oceans, 
and  find  only  troubles,  and  frontier  wars,  and  frightful,  fire- 
blackened  deserts  growing  around,  go,  and  by  a  smile  and 
^a  shake  of  the  hand,  restore  peace,  and  replace  these  de- 
serts with  gardens  and  green  fields,  and  hamlets  of  cheerful 
people." 

No,  Christian  missions  do  not  fail  because  the  Gospel 
wants  power  to  conquer,  or  because  the  missionary  wants 
knowledge  how  to  act,  or  because  the  pagan  wants  suscep- 
tibility to  heavenly  truth.  These  missions  have  often  suc- 
ceeded, in  spite  of  all  the  vices  and  corruption  of  a  most 
degraded  condition  ;  and,  what  is  more,  in  spite  of  all  the 
adverse  influence  which  a  destroying  commerce  has  exerted, 
in  opposition  to  their  movements.  And,  if  those  who  direct 
commerce  would  leave  Christianity,  unobstructed,  to  do  her 
own  proper  work ;  if  they  would  place  truth,  justice,  and 
mercy,  at  the  basis  of  their  system, — these  missions  would  gen- 
erally succeed.  The  mistakes  and  indiscretions  of  here  and 
there  a  movement,  would  hardly  be  felt  amidst  the  onward 
impulses  and  vigorous  actings  of  all-conquering  Christianity. 
The  success  of  missions,  under  all  past  discouragements,  is  an 
an  hundred  fold  more  than  enough  to  justify  all  past  expen- 
diture, whether  of  money  or  of  lives,  and  amply  sufficient 
to  sustain  and  encourage  us  under  any  future  labors  and 
sacrifices  which  the  work  may  require.  The  spirit  of  the 
Gospel,  —  its  spirit  of  love,  peace,  and  purity,  —  is,  when  fairly 
presented,  in  action  as  well  as  in  word,  alluring  to  the  poor 


262  THE   BEARINGS    OF   MODERN    COMMERCE 

unblessed  savage  and  pagan.  It  is  God's  own  power,  fash- 
ioned for  the  very  purpose  of  winning  the  hearts  of  his 
creatures.  It  is  a  calumny  both  upon  Him,  and  upon  the 
nature  which  he  has  given  them,  to  suppose  that  the  Indian 
and  the  heathen  have  not  the  sympathies  and  the  wants  of 
men,  and  that  they  would  not  see  and  acknowledge  the 
heavenly  origin  of  the  Gospel,  if  they  could  once  behold  it 
in  all  its  beauty  and  power,  in  the  lives  as  well  as  in  the 
words  of  those  who  call  themselves  Christians.  There  are, 
it  is  true,  in  the  condition  of  the  heathen,  obstacles  to  the 
spread  of  the  Gospel,  almost  inconceivable  in  their  magni- 
tude. Still,  on  examination,  it  will  be  found  that  the  Gospel 
never  has  failed,  and  it  may  hence  be  inferred  that  it  never 
will  fail,  in  bringing  the  nations  to  Christ,  except  as  its  failure 
has  been,  or  may  be  traced,  directly  or  indirectly,  to  the 
shocking  inconsistencies  of  those  who  boast  its  privileges. 
It  spreads  encouragingly  even  against  these  inconsistencies. 
What,  then,  will  be  its  progress,  when  this  obstacle  shall  be 
removed  ?  Triumphant.  Give  it  unobstructed  way,  or  leave 
nothing  but  the  obstacle  of  paganism  itself,  and  it  will  be  glo- 
rified. It  will  heave  off  from  the  whole  unchristianized  world 
the  hatred  and  the  scorn  which  our  past  impurities,  falsehoods, 
and  barbarities  have  excited,  and  make  that  world  glad  to 
receive  the  visits  of  love  and  of  life  from  heaven,  and  from 
the  ambassadors  of  heaven. 

V.  Is,  then,  this  glorious  possibility  never  to  exist,  save 
in  the  baseless  visions  of  Christian  hope  ?  Not  so,  my  hear* 
ers.  Commerce  has  a  difierent  destiny  before  her.  ,My  text 
has  yet  to  receive,  at  least  in  great  part,  its  fulfilment.  The 
isles  have  long  waited  for  God's  law,  without  fully  receiving 
it,  and  the  ships  of  Tarshish  have  been  long  gathering  the 
silver  and  the  gold  of  the  earth,  but  not  largely,  to  the  Lord. 
God  has  glorified  his  Zion,  in  the  conception  of  his  purposes, 
but  not  yet  in  the  full  execution  of  those  purposes.  He  has  a 
work  of  wonder  yet  to  perform  before  our  eyes.  This  work 
is,  to  convert  modern  commerce  ;  to  sanctify  it  for  Himself,  and 
to  make  it  his  own  great  and  glorious  instrument  in  giving  his 
law  permanently  to  the  isles,  in  gathering  his  sons  to  Christ 
from  far  distant  realms,  in  bringing  the  silver  and  gold  to  the 
Lord,  and  in  thus  effecting  fully  the  divine  purpose  of  glori- 
fying his  church. 

And  this  work,  Christian  brethren,  will  be  done.  We  may 
not  doubt  its  accomplishment.     Why  has  that  great  colossal 


ON  THE   PROGRESS    OF   MODERN   MISSIONS.  263 

system  of  commerce,  which  we  have  surveyed,  been  suffered 
to  grow  up  and  attain  its  present  maturity  ?  In  an  age,  when 
science  with  her  discoveries,  and  art  with  her  inventions, 
have  brought  almost  all  the  powerful  agents  in  nature  into 
their  service,  and  constructed  machinery  for  working  up 
nearly  all  the  products  of  the  earth,  —  nay,  the  very  crust  of 
the  earth  itself, — into  some  sort  of  fabric,  or  article  for  the  use 
of  man ;  in  such  an  age,  why  have  we  seen  this  vast  system 
of  commerce  arise  and  stand  up,  —  the  grand  carrier  for  the 
human  race?  Stimulated  by  a  thirst  for  gain,  men  have 
long  since  learned  to  build  floating  bridges  across  the  ocean ; 
and  now  they  have  learned  to  construct  iron  rivers  across 
continents,  that  they  may,  with  mightily  accelerated  move- 
ments, gather  the  riches  of  all  lands  and  of  all  seas,  and 
then,  with  keen  intelligence  of  price  current,  distribute  them 
through  all  channels  and  all  markets.  Commerce  has  thus 
become  a  Colossus,  indeed ;  her  feet  resting  on  broad  conti- 
nent and  on  distant  isle,  her  left  hand  holding  a  lighthouse 
for  the  world,  and  her  right  busy  with  all  the  moveable 
things  of  the  earth.  Why  is  this  ?  Why  has  God  suffered 
such  a  power  to  arise  ?  That  it  may  always  stand  to  scourge 
his  creatures,  and,  to  the  end  of  time,  scatter  misery  and  ruin 
through  the  world?  Is  it  his  purpose,  that  this  power, 
moved  by  consummate  skill,  and  sustained  by  ample  means, 
shall  permanently  amass  the  wealth  of  the  earth  into  the 
.coffers  of  a  few,  while  it  leaves  the  innumerable  many,  poor, 
oppressed,  broken  in  heart  and  hopeless  of  good  ?  This  were 
a  solemn  libel,  both  on  his  wisdom  and  on  his  goodness.  No. 
This  grand  system  has  before  it  another  destiny.  Kaised 
up  under  the  sublime  energies  of  migjity  man,  —  mighty 
though  sinful,  —  like  man  himself,  it  is  to  be  converted  to 
God.  "The  love  of  money"  has  heretofore  been  mainly 
serving  itself.  Hereafter  it  will  be  converted,  and  made  to  ~ 
serve  the  Lord.  Science  and  art  have  got  ready,  with  their 
implements,  to  distribute  all  the  products  of  the  earth  to  her 
ever  multiplying  millions.  The  ways  of  distribution  have 
been  opened  across  sea  and  land.  And  now,  over  this  whole 
body  of  agencies,  God  is  to  spread  his  own  power,  that  it 
may  do  his  own  work,  and  scatter,  —  not  curses,  but  bless- 
ings ;  —  not  death,  but  life.  It  is  a  body  of  agencies,  which, 
when  sanctified,  will  be  wonderfully  fitted  to  do  his  work ; 
and  that  it  is  to  be  thus  sanctified,  furnishes  the  only  expla- 
nation why  it  has  been  suffered  to  h?ive  origin  and  existence. 


264  THE   BEARINGS    OF   MODERN    COMMERCE 

VI.  I  go  further,  brethren.  This  great  work,  —  the  con- 
version to  God  of  modern  commerce,  —  is  now  in  progress ; 
and  the  eye  of  Christian  observation  may  easily  discern  and 
trace  the  steps  which  it  is  taking. 

Why  has  modern  commerce  fallen  mainly  into  the  hands 
of  two  of  the  most  Christian  nations  on  earth  ;  of  two  nations, 
most  active  in  support  of  Christian  missions ;  of  two  na- 
tions, which,  in  the  irrepressibly  enterprising  and  colonizing 
genius  of  their  kindred  races,  command  the  world,  and  are 
fast  spreading  themselves  over  the  world ;  —  Great  Britain 
and  the  United  States  ?  Why,  but  that  God  is  beginning  his 
work  of  converting  this  commerce  to  himself,  and  thus  of 
bring  over  the  earth  the  brightest  day  of  glory  that  ever 
shone  !  Confirmatory  of  this  view,  there  are  other  consider- 
ations. 

The  worst  evils  which  commerce,  in  her  unsanctified  state, 
has  disseminated,  are  war,  slavery,  intemperance  and  disease. 
Why,  then,  just  as  this  commerce  has  reached  to  something 
like  its  maturity,  and  accumulated  a  power  capable  of  moving 
the  world,  have  we  seen  these  two  great  Christian  nations 
stirred  and  wrought  up,  internally,  with  deep,  steadily  grow- 
ing and  resistless  efforts  to  disseminate  the  spirit  and  the 
principles  of  peace  ;  to  wipe  out  the  blot  of  slavery  from  the 
earth ;  to  quench  the  fires  of  all-devouring  intemperance ; 
and  to  wash  clean  from  their  pollutions  those  hitherto  despised 
and  neglected  circumnavigators  of  the  world,  —  our  seamen  ? 
Had  God  designed  the  conversion  of  commerce,  he  could  not, 
so  far  as  we  can  perceive,  have  raised  up  a  cluster  of  meas- 
ures, more  appropriate  to  his  purpose  than  those,  to  the 
working  of  which,  I  have  now  pointed.  What,  then,  must 
be  our  inference,  when  we  see  these  measures  really  put  in 
action,  at  the  very  time,  and  in  the  very  places,  where  they 
are  most  needed;  when  we  see  mighty  instrumentalities, 
embodying  the  common  sentiment  of  the  wise  and  good, 
pointed,  like  heaven's  artillery,  against  the  thickest  host  of 
the  evils  which  modern  commerce  has  bred,  and  pouring  in 
upon  that  host  a  powder,  which  is  every  year  becoming  more 
and  more  resistless  ?  What,  but  that  God  is  actually  doing 
His  great  work ;  that  He  is  turning  this  commerce  to  himself, 
and  preparing  to  make  her  His  handmaid,  in  carrying  the 
blessings  of  salvation  to  all  mankind  ? 

Again ;  England  is,  questionless,  empress  over  the  august 
realm  of  moral  sentiment  in  this  world.     Why,  then,  in  her 


ON   THE   PROGRESS    OF   MODERN   MISSIONS.  265 

Parliament,  and  among  her  people,  has  the  strong  spirit  of  in- 
vestigation started  up,  with  an  eye  that  looks  through  the 
very  soul  of  commercial  abuses,  and  with  an  arm  that  makes 
that  whole  system  of  abuses  tremble  ?  Why  has  the  voice  of 
that  spirit  summoned  into  his  presence  native  princes  from 
Africa,  officers  of  government,  and  missionary  agents  from 
the  extremes  of  British  colonization,  and  from  them  collected 
facts,  which  have  at  length  torn  off  the  veil  from  the  Moloch 
of  commercial  avarice  and  lust  of  power,  and  poured  in  a  terri- 
ble light  upon  the  dark  and  deep  and  wide-spread  wretched- 
ness, into  which  that  Moloch  has  so  long  been  treading  the 
aboriginal  and  pagan  nations  of  the  earth  ?  Why,  as  the  con- 
sequence, in  the  opening  of  the  China  trade,  has  an  effort  been 
made  to  cripple  that  mammoth  monopoly,  the  East  India 
Company,  and  thus  to  break  the  right  arm  of  that  power, 
which  has  been  crushing  and  debasing  the  hundred  millions 
of  British  India  ?  Why,  as  a  still  further  consequence,  have 
we  seen  at  least  the  shadowing  forth  of  more  humane  counsels, 
in  commercial  and  colonial  policy,  throughout  British  India,  in 
South  Africa,  among  the  South  Sea  Islands,  and  wherever 
English  colonies  have  been  planted?  And  finally,  why  do 
we  find,  through  the  whole  period  which  has  been  witnessing 
these  ameliorations,  an  increasing  number  of  individual  mer- 
chants, both  in  England  and  in  the  United  States,  unasso- 
ciated  with  chartered  companies,  and  moved  by  the  growing 
forces  of  Christian  feeling  in  the  world,  among  the  noblest 
men  that  walk  our  earth  —  why  do  we  find  these  men  volun- 
tarily espousing,  in  their  commercial  operations,  the  principles 
of  Christian  truth,  justice,  mercy  and  purity ;  forswearing  the 
gains  of  unholy  trafiic ;  refusing  to  export  death  and  corrup- 
tion among  the  smiling  paradises  of  the  Pacific,  and  into  those 
wide  continental  realms,  within  whose  bosom  God  has  hidden 
so  much  of  the  natural  wealth  of  our  planet  ?  Why  have  all 
these  cheering  facts  been  thrown  upon  our  observation  ?  Is 
the  spirit  of  investigation,  in  the  British  Parliament  and 
among  the  British  people,  to  be  again  put  to  sleep  ?  Is  the 
light,  which  that  spirit  has  already  elicited  and  thrown  over 
the  horrors  of  the  past,  to  be  once  more  darkened  ?  And  is 
commerce  thus  to  revert  again  to  her  un watched,  unopposed 
career  of  oppression,  extortion,  corruption  and  ruin  ;  and  once 
more  to  walk  securely  forth  upon  her  broad  ways  of  death  and 
desolation  ?  Never  !  Opposition  to  the  work  of  reformation 
will  come,  in  all  its  shapes  and  with  all  its  power ;  commercial 
23 


266  THE    BEARINGS    OF    MODERN    COMMERCE 

gold  and  commercial  intrigue  will  exhaust  their  resources  for 
the  defeat  of  that  work,  and  thus  tedious  delays  may  be  forced 
upon  the  cause  of  struggling,  but  reviving  humanity.  Yet  all, 
at  last,  must  prove  in  vain !  An  eye  has  been  awakened, 
which  cannot  be  put  to  sleep.  A  light  has  been  struck  up, 
which  can  never  be  darkened.  Commerce,  in  the  hands  of 
Christian  nations,  can  never  go  back  and  become  what  she  has 
been.  The  awful  discrepancy  between  our  Christian  boasts 
and  professions  and  our  unchristian  practices  and  influences, 
has  been  made  too  appallingly  apparent  ever  to  be  forgotten. 
Investigation  will  go  forward ;  light  will  increase ;  the  good 
effects  of  justice  and  mercy,  peace  and  purity,  as  exhibited  in 
particular  cases,  will  become  more  and  more  apparent  and  in- 
fluential ;  the  empire  of  corrected  moral  sentiment  will  spread 
from  England  over  Christendom,  and,  at  length,  the  whole 
vast  system  of  evil  will  be  broken  up ;  the  work  of  the  Lord 
will  be  accomplished  ;  and  commerce,  converted,  at  last,  to  his 
purposes,  will  go  forth  over  the  world  —  the  great,  high-minis- 
ter of  his  mercies  to  mankind  ! 

YII.  Look  a  moment,  then,  at  the  blessings  of  a  sanctified 
commerce,  even  to  the  temporal  lot  of  men. 

The  system,  as  it  has  operated  in  the  past,  depopulates. 
After  gathering  up  what  it  can  of  the  gold  and  other  wealth 
of  the  lands  which  it  has  discovered,  it  leaves  those  lands  a 
waste  —  peopled  with  a  thin,  imbruted  and  most  miserable 
race  ;  and  then,  having  taken  their  riches  home  to  the  bosoms 
of  once  noble  nations  in  the  old  world,  deposits  them  there,  to 
corrupt  the  heart,  w^eaken  the  sinews,  eat  out  the  soul,  and  de- 
base the  whole  spirit  of  those  nations.  Of  this  result,  proofs 
are  found  wherever  commerce  has  trod,  whether  in  Asia,  in 
Africa,  or  in  America.  The  most  conspicuous  of  these  proofs, 
however,  may  be  seen  by  looking  over  the  wide  and  once  hap- 
py pampas  of  South  America,  and  over  those  degenerate  na- 
tions of  peninsular  Europe,  by  whom  that  southern  world  was 
laid  waste. 

But  the  system,  as  it  will  work  in  the  future,  when  it  shall 
have  been  regenerated,  will  ennoble  and  enrich  whomsoever 
it  affects.  Elevating  knowledge  and  heavenly  religion,  the 
sentiments  of  a  pure  and  peaceful,  a  just  and  a  loving  Gospel, 
will  be  exchanged,  as  well  as  articles  of  traffic,  for  the  surplus 
wealth  of  golden,  or  of  spicy  lands.  The  hundreds  of  millions 
of  aboriginal  and  of  pagan  man,  will  be  raised  out  of  their  scorn 
and  ignorance  of  the  Gospel,  into  its  light  and  its  love,  and, 


ON    THE    PROGRESS    OF   MODERN   MISSIONS.  267 

thus  elevated,  will  take  their  stand  among  the  regenerated 
tribes  of  the  Lord's  anointed  king  ;  and  the  honestly  acquired 
treasures  which  shall  have  been  gathered,  while  they  leave 
still  smiling  and  flourishing  realms  behind,  will  go,  —  not  to 
canker  in  the  heart,  and  corrupt  the  character  of  elder  domains, 
not  to  lie  heaped  in  the  hands  of  a  few,  while  the  many  pine 
in  penury,  —  but  to  circulate  among  all,  enrich  all,  and  minister 
to  the  moral  and  intellectual  elevation  and  improvement  of 
all.  Then  the  isles  shall  no  longer  wait  in  vain  for  God's 
law.  The  ships  of  Tarshish  shall  indeed  bring  his  sons  from 
far,  their  silver  and  their  gold  with  them,  unto  the  name  of 
the  Lord  their  God;  and  the  Holy  One  of  Israel  shall  be 
seen  fully  glorifying  the  house  of  his  glory,  the  Zion  that  he 
loves. 

yill.  This  happy,  this  glorious  period  is  coming  upon  the 
eai'th.  Amidst  the  evil  tidings,  and  the  heaving  convulsions 
of  our  own  days,  we  still  live  in  the  light,  which  marks,  by  no 
faint  traces,  the  dawning  of  that  period.  Blessed  be  God,  we 
see  its  approach,  and  we  labor  amidst  the  influences  which 
are  accelerating  its  movement.  It  becomes  us,  therefore, 
seriously  to  inquire  what,  in  view  of  all  these  things,  is  the 
duty  of  nominally  Christian  countries,  especially  of  the  pro- 
fessed church  of  Christ?  On  this  point,  however,  though 
amazingly  important,  I  am  admonishecj^  to  be  brief 

What,  then,  is  the  state  of  the  whole  case  before  us  ?  Sim- 
ply this.  Nominally  Christian  nations  have,  by  the  iniquitous 
operations  of  their  commercial  system,  plundered,  debased  and 
wasted  the  aboriginal  and  heathen  races  of  our  earth.  Mul- 
titudes of  the  lordly  estates  and  the  lordly  mansions,  which 
spread  forth  their  beauties  and  glitter  in  their  ornaments,  on 
English  soil  and  under  English  skies,  and  vast  amounts  of 
the  funds,  which  are  continually  coming  over  to  this  country 
from  England  and  from  Holland,  for  investment  in  our  pro- 
ductive stocks  and  public  works,  are  but  parts  of  the  immense 
wealth,  which  has  been  most  unrighteously  drawn  from  rob- 
bed, despoiled,  depopulated  India,  and  those  numerous  other 
lands,  on  which,  for  centuries  past,  modern  commerce  has 
been  doing  her  dark  deeds,  till  she  has  made  their  inhabitants 
loathe  the  very  names  of  Christianity  and  civilization,  as 
synonymous  with  all  that  is  deceitful,  impure  and  relentless. 
Such  being  the  plain,  unvarnished  state  of  facts,  it  is  now  but 
the  simple  dictate  of  common  justice,  that  we,  the  whole  mass 
surnamed  Christian,  should  repent  of  our  works,  cleanse  our 


268  THE   BEARINGS    OF   MODERN    COMMERCE 

hearts  from  avarice  and  worldliness,  take  our  unjustly  acquir- 
ed gold  in  our  hands,  go  on  our  knees  before  the  wronged  and 
ruined  heathen,  confess  to  them  our  numberless  and  immeas- 
urable sins ;  and  then,  in  our  charities  and  labors  above  meas- 
ure, give  them  a  long  and  living  example  of  the  real  justice, 
purity  and  love  of  that  Gospel,  which  we  have  taught  them  to 
disbelieve  and  to  scorn  ;  seek,  by  ages  of  self-humiliation  and 
social  equity,  to  efface  the  sense  of  those  injuries  which  we 
have  inflicted,  and  thus  carry  them  some  small,  though  late 
remuneration,  for  the  giant  extortions,  and  the  long-lived  suf- 
ferings, in  which  those  injuries  have  consisted.  We  have 
heaped  on  them  the  curses,  we  should  now  go  and  carry  them 
the  blessings,  of  civilization. 

In  this  great  work  of  Christian  repentance  and  Christian 
justice,  the  church  should  take  a  special  part.  Heretofore, 
colonization  has  been  in  the  hands  of  the  agents  of  commerce. 
Hereafter  the  church  ought  to  colonize.  Not  merely  in  the 
person  of  here  and  there  a  self-devoted  missionary,  but  in  the 
whole  hosts  of  her  best  blood  and  her  best  hearts,  she  should 
put  herself  into  the  ships,  and  gather  the  silver  and  the  gold  — 
not  to  gratify  the  lusts  of  pleasure  and  of  power,  but  to  conse- 
crate them  to  the  service  of  the  Lord  —  and  should  place, 
wherever  the  isles  or  the  continents  are  waiting  for  the  law, 
companies  of  Christ's  faithful  servants,  to  teach,  by  precept 
and  by  example,  the  living  way  to  happiness  and  heaven. 
Even  the  church  has  had,  indirectly,  her  share  in  the  treas- 
ures which  have  been  wrung  from  the  poor  heathen.  The 
church,  therefore,  should  help  to  pay  them  back,  in  something 
better  than  gold  —  in  the  treasures  of  life  eternal.  To  effect 
this,  she  should  be  busy  at  home  as  well  as  abroad.  She 
should  labor  and  pray  for  the  spread  of  temperance,  th^t  our 
land  may  be  no  longer  a  fountain,  sending  forth  burning  wa- 
ters to  consume  the  savage  and  the  idolater.  She  should 
throw  herself  into  the  seamen's  cause,  that  they  may  soon  cease 
to  carry  disease  and  death  into  the  lands  which  they  visit. 
And  she  should  make  herself  heard,  —  however  silently,  yet 
powerfully,  —  in  the  ear  of  governments,  that  they  may  become 
ashamed  of  the  atrocities,  which,  for  three  hundred  and  fifty 
years,  they  have  been  perpetrating ;  and,  in  the  counsels  of 
true,  universal  peace  and  freedom,  learn  henceforth  to  deal 
justly  and  mercifully  with  mankind. 

The  obligations  of  the  church  to  missionary  labor  —  to  be, 
at  one  and  at  all  times,  and  wherever  a  place  for  labor  may  be 


ON    THE    PROGRESS    OF   MODERN   MISSIONS.  269 

found,  whether  at  home  or  abroad,  a  missionary  body  —  these 
obligations  I  have  ever  deemed  among  the  simplest  deduc- 
tions from  the  spirit  and  the  principles  of  her  faith,  and  from 
the  bearings  of  the  civilized  on  the  uncivilized  portions  of  our 
race. 

If  Paul  felt  himself  "  a  debtor  both  to  the  Greeks  and  to 
the  barbarians,"  what,  I  pray,  has  the  church  now  become  to 
the  whole  unchristianized  world  ?  A  debtor  indeed ;  involved 
m  a  debt,  which  she  will  never  have  done  paying  till  the  last 
of  an  unconverted  race  shall,  under  her  leading,  have  come 
home  to  God.  When  we  call  on  her  members  for  their  silver 
and  their  gold,  —  ay,  for  their  whole  bodies  and  souls,  —  we  do 
not  call  on  them  for  charity  ;  we  call  on  them  to  aid  in  the  pay- 
ment of  a  simple  debt;  a  debt  which  we  most  righteously  owe ; 
a  debt,  which,  until  it  is  paid,  will  leave  us,  as  a  body,  under 
the  burthens  of  uncleansed,  unannealed  guilt.  The  effect  of 
Christian  colonization  has  been  to  exterminate  whole  races  of 
men,  to  put  to  the  sword  unnumbered  millions  of  other  races, 
and  to  set  the  whole  surviving  world  of  heathenism  in  just 
hate  of  the  vast  mis-named  mass  of  Christian  men.  And  now, 
unless  the  church,  which  has  had  so  large  a  share  in  these 
evils,  or  their  gains,  arise,  and  give  back  to  the  mighty,  injured 
tribes,  a  recompense  in  the  true  peace  and  blessings  of  the 
Gospel,  how  can  God  suffer  her  members  to  live  on  his  earth  ? 
To  me  it  seems  that  the  particular  church,  which  will  not  en- 
gage in  sending  the  Gospel  to  the  heathen,  has  the  doom  of 
God's  decree,  written  in  the  eternal  records  of  his  ways,  against 
it,  that  it  shall  perish  !  The  denomination,  which  persever- 
ingly  holds  back  from  this  work  of  debt-paying,  must  be  cast 
out.  It  cannot  live.  Its  very  spirit,  and  the  measures  which 
that  spirit  dictates,  will,  even  at  home,  shut  it  out  from  quick- 
ening, life-sustaining  influences.  It  will  die.  It  will  become 
a  reservoir  for  the  refuse  of  a  once  covetous  world ;  and  then, 
with  that  world,  it  will  perish. 

Brethren,  I  have  not  time  to  refer,  in  conclusion,  to  the  par- 
ticular movements  of  our  own  denomination  —  to  the  extend- 
ing missionary  operations  and  prospects  of  this  Zion  of  our 
affections.  On  this  point,  I  can  merely  refer  you  to  our  cur- 
rent missionary  publications.  I  cannot  close,  however,  with- 
out the  addition  of  one  further  thought,  in  connection  with  the 
great  topic  which  has  been  reviewed. 

Probably,  in  the  survey  through  which  the  colonizing  meas- 
ures of  the  last  three  centuries  have  been  made  to  pass,  the 
23* 


270  THE    BEARINGS    OF    MODERN    COMMERCE 

question  has  suggested  itself  to  the  attentive  mind,  how  came 
the  fearfully  covetous,  extortionate  and  oppressive  spirit,  which 
this  survey  has  aimed  to  expose  —  how  came  it  in  the  bosom 
of  the  church  of  Christ  ?  Did  he  breathe  it  there ;  or  is  his 
Grospel  its  parent  ?  No.  It  came  from  old,  covetous,  perse- 
cuting heathenism  itself.  Avarice  is  the  natural  growth  of 
the  human  heart.  But,  avarice,  coupled  with  so  much  of  false 
philosophy,  with  so  much  of  false  morals  in  the  maxims 
of  trade,  and  with  so  much  of  ingenious  and  relentless  cruelty, 
as  we  have  seen  in  action,  though  all,  in  one  sense,  the 
growth  of  our  sinful  nature,  yet  needed  peculiar  circum- 
stances for  the  fostering  of  its  growth.  Those  circumstances 
it  did  not  find,  under  the  Gospel,  even  during  the  reign 
of  Papal  darkness.  That  is,  the  spirit  did  not  originate 
in  that  reign.  Popery  received  it  from  heathenism,  at  the 
time  when  the  latter,  after  having  persecuted  genuine  Christ- 
ianity into  consideration  and  into  prosperity,  seemed  dis- 
posed, under  the  auspices  of  the  first  Constantine,  to  turn 
and  pour  itself,  en  masse,  into  the  church ;  and  when,  conse- 
quently, Christianity  began  to  change  into  a  kind  of  baptized 
paganism,  and  Christian  doctrine  to  be  mixed  up  with  the 
falsehoods  of  pagan  philosophy.  Yes,  the  spirit  which  we 
have  exposed  came  from  the  heart  of  ancient  heathenism.  It 
is  the  fruit  of  that  old  form  of  rebellion  against  God,  which 
took  its  shape  in  the  abominations  of  idolatry-.  Head  the  first 
chapter  of  Romans,  and  you  will  find  its  pedigree.  "  Because 
men  did  not  like  to  retain  God  in  their  knowledge,  God  gave 
them  over  to  a  reprobate  mind,"  and  to  all  the  awful  conse- 
quences of  their  sin.  For  four  thousand  years,  that  reprobate 
mind,  bowing  down  to  idols  in  the  offering  of  an  unclean  wor- 
ship, possessed  and  ruled  the  bodies  of  men  with'  almost 
undivided  sway.  When  Christ  came  to  dispossess  it,  it  re- 
sisted, in  an  awful  struggle,  during  which,  it  almost  wrested 
back  from  Messiah  his  early  conquests.  And  even  when  he 
made  a  sort  of  second  advent,  at  the  Protestant  reformation,  so 
strong  was  the  hold  which  this  spirit  of  evil  had  upon  men, 
that  it  was  carried  down  even  into  the  bosom  of  the  reformed 
church.  There  it  has  ever  since  been  at  work.  Shielded  by 
its  old  code  of  false  morals,  and  combining  itself  with  the  in- 
tense energies  begotten  amidst  the  light  of  the  reformation, 
and  thus  becoming  a  mightier  engine  of  mischief  than  ever,  it 
has  acted  back,  with  tremendous  effect,  on  the  very  seat  of  its 
ancient  parentage,  on  the  realms  of  old  and  wide-spread  heath- 


ON   THE   PROGRESS    OF   MODERN   MISSIONS.  271 

enism.  Thus  God  has  made  pristine  rebellion  chastise  itself; 
and,  from  our  hands,  most  terrible  has  the  chastisement  prov- 
ed. Heathenism,  at  first,  sought  to  destroy  true  Christianity. 
At  last,  through  the  channel  of  a  corrupt  Christianity  —  a 
Christianity  which  it  had  itself  corrupted  —  it  has  almost  lit- 
erally destroyed  itself! 

And  now,  what  is  to  be  the  end  of  the  matter?  This. 
God's  purposes  seem  ripening  into  accomplishment.  The  sys- 
tem of  horrors,  which,  under  the  auspices  of  commerce,  has 
reigned  since  1492,  appears  to  be  breaking  up.  The  Chris- 
tian world  is  waking  to  a  view  of  the  cidminal  part  which  it 
has  had  in  the  guilt  of  a  long  series  of  centuries,  and  the 
whole  church  of  Christ  is  doing,  or  preparing  to  do,  her  great 
work  of  repentance  and  of  justice,  before  those  whom  she  has 
wronged.  This  work,  however  slow  at  present,  she  will,  by 
God's  grace,  carry  on  to  completion.  And  then,  as  a  sharp 
sickle,  fitted  for  the  hand  of  the  Lord,  she  will  sweep  over  the 
whitened  field,  reap  the  harvest  of  a  willing  world,  and  bring 
home  great  glory  to  that  God  of  salvation,  who  alone  doeth 
wondrous  things. 


MESSIAH'S     THRONE. 

BY 

REV.    JOHN   M.    MASON,    D.    D. 
But  unto  the  Son,  he  saith.  Thy  Throne,  0  God,  is  forever  and  ever.  —  Hebrews,  1:8. 

In  the  all-important  argument  which  occupies  this  epistle, 
Paul  assumes,  —  what  the  believing  Hebrews  had  already  pro- 
fessed, —  that  Jesus  of  Nazareth  is  the  true  Messiah.  To  pre- 
pare them  for  the  consequences  of  their  own  principle  —  a 
principle  involving  nothing  less  than  the  abolition  of  their  law, 
the  subversion  of  their  State,  the  ruin  of  their  city,  the  final 
extinction  of  their  cari^al  hopes  —  he  leads  them  to  the  doctrine 
of  their  Redeemer's  person,  in  order  to  explain  the  nature  of 
his  offices,  to  evince  the  value  of  his  spiritual  salvation,  and  to 
show,  in  both,  the  accomplishment  of  their  economy,  which  was 
"  now  ready  to  vanish  away."  Under  no  apprehension  of 
betraying  the  unwary  into  idolatrous  homage,  by  giving  to  the 
Lord  Jesus  greater  glory  than  is  "  due  unto  his  name,"  the 
apostle  sets  out  with  ascribing  to  him  excellence  and  attributes 
which  belong  to  no  creature.  Creatures  of  most  elevated 
rank  are  introduced ;  but  it  is  to  display,  by  contrast,  the  pre- 
eminence of  him  who  is  "  the  brightness  of  the  Father's  glory, 
and  the  express  image  of  his  person."  Angels  are  great  in 
might  and  in  dignity ;  but  "  unto  them  hath  he  not  put  in 
subjection  the  world  to  come.  Unto  which  of  them  said  he, 
at  any  time.  Thou  art  my  son  ?  "  To  which  of  them,  "  Sit 
thou  at  my  right  hand  ?  "  He  saith,  they  are  spirits,  "  minis- 
tering spirits,  sent  forth  to  minister  unto  them  who  are  the 
heirs  of  salvation."  "  But  unto  the  Son,"  —  in  a  style  which 
annihilates  competition  and  comparison,  —  "  unto  the  Son  he 
saith,  thy  throne,  O  God,  is  forever  and  ever." 

Brethren,  if  the  majesty  of  Jesus  is  the  subject  which  the 
Holy  Ghost  selected  for  the  encouragement  and  consolation 


Messiah's  throne,  273 

of  his  people,  when  he  was  shaking  the  earth  and  the  heav- 
ens, and  diffusing  his  Gospel  among  the  nations,  can  it  be 
otherwise  than  suitable  and  precious  to  us  on  this  occasion  ? 
Shall  it  not  expand  our  views,  and  warm  our  hearts,  and  nerve 
our  arm,  in  our  efforts  to  exalt  his  fame  ?  Let  me  implore, 
then,  the  aid  of  your  prayers ;  but,  far  more  importunately,  the 
aids  of  his  own  Spirit,  while  I  speak  of  the  things  which  con- 
cern the  King :  those  great  things  contained  in  the  text  —  his 
personal  glory,  his  sovereign  rule. 

1.  His  personal  glory  shines  forth  in  the  name  by  which  he 
is  revealed ;  a  name  above  every  name,  thy  throne  —  O 
God !  To  the  single  eye,  nothing  can  be  more  evident,  in  the 
first  place,  than  that  the  Holy  Ghost  here  asserts  the  essential 
deity  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Of  his  enemies,  whom  he 
will  make  his  footstool,  some  have,  indeed,  controverted  this 
position,  and  endeavored  to  blot  out  the  text  from  the  cata- 
logue of  his  witnesses.  Instead  of  thy  throne^  0  God^  they 
would  compel  us,  by  a  perversion  of  phraseology,  of  figure 
and  of  sense,  to  read,  "  God  is  thy  throne  ; "  converting  the 
great  and  dreadful  God  into  a  symbol  of  authority  in  one  of 
his  own  creatures.  The  Scriptures,  it  seems,  may  utter  con- 
tradictions or  impiety,  but  the  divinity  of  the  Son  they  shall  not 
attest.  The  crown,  however,  which  "  flourishes  on  his  head," 
is  not  to  be  torn  away ;  nor  the  anchor  of  our  hope  to  be 
wrested  from  us,  by  the  rude  hand  of  licentious  criticism. 

I  cannot  find,  in  the  lively  oracles,  a  single  distinctive  mark 
of  deity,  which  is  not  applied,  without  reserve  or  limitation,  to 
the  only  begotten  Son.  ''  All  things  whatsoever  the  Father 
hath,  are  his."  Who  is  that  mysterious  Word,  that  was  "  in 
the  beginning^  with  God  ?  "  Who  is  the  "  Alpha  and  Omega, 
the  beginning  and  the  ending,  the  first  and  the  last,  the  Al- 
mighty ?  "  Who  is  he  that  "  knows  what  is  in  man,"  because 
he  searches  the  deep  and  dark  recesses  of  the  heart  ?  Who 
is  the  Omnipresent,  that  has  promised,  "  Wherever  two  or 
three  are  gathered  together  in  my  name,  there  am  I  in  the 
midst  of  them  ? "  the  light  of  whose  countenance  is,  at  the 
same  moment,  the  joy  of  heaven  and  the  salvation  of  earth  ? 
who  is  encircled  by  the  seraphim  on  high,  and  "  walks  in  the 
midst  of  the  golden  candlesticks  ?  "  who  is  in  this  assembly  ? 
in  all  the  assemblies  of  his  people  ?  in  every  worshipping  fam- 
ily ?  in  every  closet  of  prayer  ?  in  every  holy  heart  ?  "  Whose 
hands  have  stretched  out  the  heavens  and  laid  the  foundations 
of  the  earth  ?  "     Who  hath  replenished  them  with  inhabitants, 


274  Messiah's  throne. 

and  garnished  them  with  beauty,  having  created  all  things 
that  are  in  both,  "  visible  and  invisible,  whether  they  be 
thrones,  or  dominions,  or  principalities,  or  powers  ? "  By 
whom  do  all  things  consist  ?  Who  is  "  the  Governor  among 
the  nations,"  having  "  on  his  vesture  and  on  his  thigh  a  name 
written,  King  of  Kings  and  Lord  of  Lords  f  Whom  is  it  the 
Father's  will  that  "  all  men  should  honor  even  as  they  honor 
himself?  "  Whom  has  he  commanded  his  angels  to  worship  ? 
whom  to  obey  ?  Before  whom  do  the  devils  tremble  ?  Who 
is  qualified  to  redeem  millions  of  sinners  from  the  wrath  to 
come,  and  preserve  them,  by  his  grace,  to  his  everlasting 
kingdom  ?  Who  raiseth  the  dead,  having  life  in  himself,  to 
quicken  whom  he  will,  so  that,  at  his  voice,  all  who  are  in  their 
graves  shall  come  forth;  —  and  death  and  hell  surrender  their 
numerous  and  forgotten  captives  ?  Who  shall  weigh,  in  the 
balance  of  judgment,  the  destinies  of  angels  and  men?  dispose 
of  the  thrones  of  paradise?  and  bestow  eternal  life  ?  Shall  I 
submit  to  the  decision  of  reason  ?  Shall  I  ask  a  response  from 
heaven?  Shall  I  summon  the  devils  from  their  chains  of 
darkness?  The  response  from  heaven  sounds  in  my  ears; 
reason  approves,  and  the  devils  confess  —  This,  O  Christians, 
is  none  other  than  the  great  God  our  Saviour  ! 

Indeed,  the  doctrine  of  our  Lord's  divinity  is  not,  as  a/ac^, 
more  interesting  to  our  faith,  than,  as  a  principle,  it  is  essen- 
tial to  our  hope.  If  he  were  not  the  true  God,  he  could  not 
be  eternal  life.  When,  pressed  down  by  guilt  and  languishing 
for  happiness,  I  look  around  for  a  deliverer  such  as  my  con- 
science and  my  heart  and  the  word  of  God  assure  me  I  need, 
insult  not  my  agony,  by  directing  me  to  a  creature  —  to  a  man, 
a  mere  man  like  myself !  A  creature !  a  man !  My  Re- 
deemer owns  my  person.  My  immortal  spirit  is  his  property. 
When  I  come  to  die,  I  must  commit  it  into  his  hands.  My 
soul !  my  infinitely  precious  soul  committed  to  a  mere  man ! 
become  the  property  of  a  mere  man  !  I  would  not,  thus,  in- 
trust my  body,  to  the  highest  angel  who  burns  in  the  temple 
above.  It  is  only  the  Father  of  spirits,  that  can  have  pro- 
perty  in  spirits,  and  be  their  refuge  in  the  hour  of  transition 
from  the  present  to  the  approaching  world.  In  short,  my 
brethren,  the  divinity  of  Jesus  is,  in  the  system  of  grace,  the 
sun  to  which  all  its  parts  are  subordinate,  and  all  their  sta- 
tions refer  —  which  binds  them  in  sacred  concord,  and  im- 
parts to  them  their  radiance,  and  life,  and  vigor.  Take  from 
it  this  central  luminary,  and  the  glory  is  departed —  its  holy 


Messiah's  throne.  275 

harmonies   are  broken  —  the   elements  rush  to  chaos  —  the 
light  of  salvation  is  extinguished  forever ! 

But  it  is  not  the  deity  of  the  Son,  simply  considered,  to 
which  the  text  confines  our  attention.  We  are,  in  the  second 
place,  to  contemplate  it  as  subsisting  in  a  personal  union  with 
the  human  nature.  Long  before  the  epistle  was  written,  had 
he  "  by  himself  purged  our  sins,  and  sat  down  at  the  right 
hand  of  the  Majesty  on  high.  It  is,  therefore,  as  "  God  man- 
ifested in  the  flesh ; "  as  my  own  brother,  while  he  is  "  the 
express  image  of  the  Father's  person  ;"  as  the  Mediator  of  the 
new  covenant,  that  he  is  seated  on  the  throne.  Of  this  throne, 
to  which  the  pretensions  of  a  creature  were  mad  and  blasphe- 
mous, the  majesty  is,  indeed,  maintained  by  his  divine  power; 
but  the  foundation  is  laid  in  his  mediatorial  character.  I  need 
not  prove  to  this  audience,  that  all  his  gracious  offices  and  all 
his  redeeming  work,  originated  in  the  love  and  the  election  of 
his  Father.  Obedient  to  that  will,  which  fully  accorded  with 
his  own,  he  came  down  from  heaven ;  tabernacled  in  our  clay ; 
was  "  a  man  of  sorrows  and  acquainted  with  grief ; "  sub- 
mitted to  the  contradictions  of  sinners,  the  temptations  of  the 
old  serpent,  and  the  wrath  of  an  avenging  God.  In  the  merit 
of  his  obedience,  which  threw  a  lustre  round  the  divine  law  ; 
and  m  the  atonement  of  his  death  by  which  "  he  offered  him- 
self a  sacrifice  without  spot  unto  God,"  —  repairing  the  injuries 
of  man's  rebellion,  expiating  sin  through  the  blood  of  his 
cross,  and  conciliating  its  pardon  with  infinite  purity  and  unal- 
terable truth ;  —  summarily,  in  his  performing  those  conditions, 
on  which  was  suspended  all  God's  mercy  to  man  and  all  man's 
enjoyment  of  God,  in  these  stupendous  works  of  righteousness, 
are  we  to  look  for  the  cause  of  his  present  glory.  "  He  hum- 
bled himself  and  became  obedient  unto  death,  even  the 
death  of  the  cross ;  wherefore,  God  also  hath  highly  exalted 
him,  and  given  him  a  name  which  is  above  every  name ;  that 
at  the  name  of  Jesus  every  knee  should  bow,  of  things  in 
heaven  and  things  in  earth,  and  things  under  the  earth ;  and 
that  every  tongue  should  confess  that  Jesus  Christ  is  Lord,  to 
the  glory  of  God  the  Father."  Exalted  thus,  "  to  be  a  Prince 
and  a  Saviour,"  he  fills  heaven  with  his  beauty,  and  obtains 
from  its  blest  inhabitants  the  purest  and  most  reverential 
praise.  Worthy^  cry  the  mingled  voices  of  his  angels  and  his 
redeemed,  "  worthy  is  the  Lamb  that  was  slain,  to  receive  pow- 
er, and  riches,  and  wisdom,  and  strength,  and  honor,  and  glory, 
and  blessing."    Worthy,  again  cry  his  redeemed,  in  a  song  which 


276  Messiah's  throne. 

belongs  not  to  the  angels,  but  in  which,  with  holy  ecstasy,  we 
will  join,  "  worthy  art  thou,  for  thou  wast  slain,  and  hast  re- 
deemed us  to  God  by  thy  blood." 

Delightful,  brethren,  transcendantly  delightful,  were  it  to 
dwell  upon  this  theme.  But  we  must  refrain ;  and,  having 
taken  a  transient  glance  at  our  Redeemer's  personal  glory,  let 
us  turn  to  the 

II.  View  which  the  text  exhibits  —  the  view  of  his  sover- 

eign  rule Thy  throne,    0    God,  is   forever  and  ever. 

The  mediatorial  kingdom  of  Christ  Jesus,  directed  and  upheld 
by  his  divinity,  is  now  the  object  of  our  contemplation.  To 
advance  Jehovah's  glory  in  the  salvation  of  men,  is  the  pur- 
pose of  its  erection.  Though  earth  is  the  scene,  and  human 
life  the  limit,  of  those  great  operations  by  which  they  are  in- 
terested in  its  mercies,  and  prepared  for  its  consummation ;  its 
principles,  its  provisions,  its  issues,  are  eternal.  When  it 
rises  up  before  us  in  all  its  grandeur  of  design,  collecting  and 
conducting  to  the  heavens  of  God  millions  of  immortals,  in 
comparison  with  the  least  of  whom  the  destruction  of  the  ma- 
te^'ial  universe  were  a  thing  of  nought,  whatever  the  carnal 
mind  calls  vast  and  magnificent  shrinks  away  into  nothing. 

But  it  is  not  so  much  the  nature  of  Messiah's  kingdom  on 
which  I  am  to  insist,  as  its  stability,  its  administration,  and 
the  prospects  which  they  open  to  the  church  of  God. 

Messiah's  throne  is  not  one  of  those  airy  fabrics  which  are 
reared  by  vanity  and  overthrown  by  time  ;  —  it  is  fixed  of  old ; 
it  is  stable  and  cannot  be  shaken,  for 

1.  It  is  the  throne  of  God.  He  who  sitteth  on  it,  is  the  Om- 
nipotent. Universal  being  is  in  his  hand.  Revolution,  force, 
fear,  as  applied  to  his  kingdom,  are  words  without  meaning. 
Rise  up  in  rebellion,  if  thou  hast  courage.  Associate  with  thee 
the  whole  mass  of  infernal  power.  Begin  with  the  ruin  of 
whatever  is  fair  and  good  in  this  little  globe  —  pass  from 
hence  to  pluck  the  sun  out  of  his  place  —  and  roll  the  volume 
of  desolation  through  the  starry  world  —  What  hast  thou  done 
unto  him  ?  It  is  the  puny  menace  of  a  worm  against  him 
whose  frown  is  perdition.  He  that  sitteth  in  the  heavens  shall 
laugh. 

2.  With  the  stability  which  Messiah's  Godhead  communi- 
cates to  his  throne,  let  us  connect  the  stability  resulting  from 
his  Father's  covenant.  His  throne  is  founded  not  merely  in 
strength,  but  in  right.  God  hath  laid  the  government  upon 
the  shoulder  of  his  holy  child  Jesus,  and  set  him  upon  Mount 


Messiah's  throne.  277 

Zion  as  his  king  forever.  He  has  promised,  and  sworn,  to 
build  up  his  throne  to  all  generations ;  to  make  it  endure  as 
the  days  of  heaven ;  to  beat  down  his  foes  before  his  face,  and 
plague  them  that  hate  him.  But  my  faithfulness,  adds  he, 
and  my  mercy  shall  be  with  him,  and  in  my  name  shall  his 
horn  be  exalted.  Hath  he  said  it,  and  will  he  not  do  it  ? 
Hath  he  spoken  it,  and  shall  it  not  come  to  pass  ?  Whatever 
disappointments  rebuke  the  visionary  projects  of  men,  or  the 
more  crafty  schemes  of  Satan,  "  the  counsel  of  the  Lord,  —  that 
shall  stand."  The  blood  of  sprinkling,  which  sealed  all  the 
promises  made  to  Messiah,  and  binds  down  his  Father's  faith- 
fulness to  their  accomplishment,  witnesses  continually  in  the 
heavenly  sanctuary.  "He  must,"  therefore,  ''reign  till  he 
have  put  all  his  enemies  under  his  feet."  And  although  the 
dispensation  of  his  authority  shall,  upon  this  event,  be  chang- 
ed, and  he  shall  deliver  it  up,  in  its  present  form,  to  the 
Father,  he  shall  still  remain,  in  his  substantial  glory,  a  priest 
upon  his  throne,  to  be  the  eternal  bond  of  our  union,  and  the 
eternal  medium  of  our  fellowship  with  the  living  God. 

Seeing  that  the  throne  of  our  King  is  as  immovable  as  it  is 
exalted,  let  us  with  joy  draw  water  out  of  that  well  of  salva- 
tion which  is  opened  to  us  in  the  administration  of  his  king- 
dom. Here  we  must  consider  its  general  characters,  and  the 
means  by  which  it  operates. 

The  general  characters  which  I  shall  illustrate,  are  the  fol- 
lowing : 

1.  Mystery,  —  He  is  the  unsearchable  God,  and  his  govern- 
ment must  be  like  himself  Facts  concerning  both,  he  has 
graciously  revealed.  These  we  must  admit  upon  the  credit 
of  his  own  testimony ;  with  these  we  must  satisfy  our  wishes, 
and  limit  our  inquiry.  To  intrude  into  those  things  which  he 
hath  not  seen,  because  God  has  not  disclosed  them,  whether 
they  relate  to  his  arrangements  for  this  world  or  the  next,  is 
the  arrogance  of  one  vainly  puffed  up  by  his  fleshly  mind. 
There  are  secrets  in  our  Lord's  procedure  which  he  will  not 
explain  to  us  in  this  life,  and  which  may  not,  perhaps,  be  ex 
plained  in  the  life  to  come.  We  cannot  tell  how  he  makes 
evil  the  minister  of  good ;  how  he  combines  physical  and 
moral  agencies  of  different  kind  and  order,  in  the  production 
of  blessings.  We  cannot  so  much  as  conjecture  what  bear- 
ings the  system  of  redemption,  in  every  part  of  its  process, 
may  have  upon  the  relations  of  the  universe ;  nor  even  what 
may  be  all  the  connections  of  providence  in  the  occurrences  of 
24 


278  MESSIAH'S    THRONE. 

this  moment,  or  of  the  last.  "  Such  knowledge  is  too  wonder-' 
ful  for  us  :  it  is  high,  we  cannot  attain  it."  Our  Sovereign's 
"  way  is  in  the  sea,  and  his  path  in  the  deep  waters  ;  and  his 
footsteps  are  not  known."  When,  therefore,  we  are  surround- 
ed with  difficulty,  when  we  cannot  unriddle  his  conduct  in 
particular  dispensations,  we  must  remember  that  he  is  God ;  that 
we  are  to  walk  by  faith  ;  and  to  trust  him  as  implicity  when 
we  are  in  the  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death,  as  when  his  can- 
dle shines  upon  our  heads.  We  must  remember,  that  it  is  not 
for  us  to  be  admitted  into  the  cabinet  of  the  King  of  kings ; 
that  creatures  constituted  as  we  are,  could  not  sustain  the  view 
of  his  unveiled  agency ;  that  it  would  confound,  and  scatter, 
and  annihilate  our  little  intellects.  As  often,  then,  as  he  re- 
tires from  our  observation,  blending  goodness  with  majesty,  let 
us  lay  our  hands  upon  our  mouths,  and  worship.  This  state- 
liness  of  our  King  can  afford  us  no  just  ground  of  uneasiness. 
On  the  contrary,  it  contributes  to  our  tranquillity.  For  we 
know, 

2.  That  if  his  administration  is  mysterious,  it  is  also  wise. 
"  Great  is  our  Lord,  and  of  great  power ;  his  understanding  is 
infinite."  That  infinite  understanding  watches  over,  and  ar- 
ranges, and  directs  all  the  "affairs  of  his  church  and  of  the 
world.  We  are  perplexed  at  every  step  ;  embarrassed  by  op- 
position ;  lost  in  confusion ;  fretted  by  disappointment ;  and 
ready  to  conclude,  in  our  haste,  that  all  things  are  against  our 
own  good  and  our  Master's  honor.  But  this  is  our  infirmity  ; 
it  is  the  dictate  of  impatience  and  indiscretion.  We  forget  the 
"  years  of  the  right  hand  of  the  Most  High."  We  are  slow  of 
heart  in  learning  a  lesson  which  shall  soothe  our  spirits  at  the 
expense  of  our  pride.  We  turn  away  from  the  consolation  to 
be  derived  from  believing,  that,  though  we  know  not  the  con- 
nections and  results  of  holy  providence,  our  Lord  Jesus  knows 
them  perfectly.  With  him  there  is  no  irregularity,  no  chance, 
no  conjecture.  Disposed  before  his  eye  in  the  most  luminous' 
and  exquisite  order,  the  whole  series  of  events  occupies  the  very 
place  and  crisis  where  it  is  most  effectually  to  subserve  the 
purposes  of  his  love.  Not  a  moment  of  time  is  wasted,  nor  a 
fragment  of  action  misapplied.  What  he  does,  we  do  not  in- 
deed know  at  present ;  but,  as  far  as  we  shall  be  permitted  to 
know  hereafter,  we  shall  see  that  his  most  inscrutable  proce- 
dure was  guided  by  consummate  wisdom;  that  our  choice  was 
often  as  foolish,  as  our  petulance  was  provoking ;  that  the  suc- 
cess of  our  own  wishes  would  have  been  our  most  painful 


Messiah's  throne.  279 

chastisement,  would  have  diminished  our  happiness,  and  de- 
tracted from  his  praise.  Let  us  study,  therefore,  brethren,  to 
subject  our  ignorance  to  his  knowledge ;  instead  of  prescrib- 
ing, to  obey ;  instead  of  questioning,  to  believe  ;  to  perform 
our  part  without  that  despondency  which  betrays  a  fear  that 
our  Lord  maiy  neglect  his,  and  tacitly  accuses  him  of  a  less 
concern  than  we  feel  for  the  glory  of  his  own  name.  Let  us 
not  shrink  from  this  duty,  as  imposing  too  rigorous  a  condition 
upon  our  obedience,  for  a 

3.  Character  of  Messiah's  administration  is  righteousness, 
"  The  sceptre  of  his  kingdom  is  a  right  sceptre."  If  "  clouds 
and  darkness  are  round  about  him,  righteousness  and  judg- 
ment are  the  habitation  of  his  throne."  In  the  times  of  old, 
his  redeemed  "  wandered  in  the  wilderness  in  a  solitary  way  ; 
but,  nevertheless,  he  led  them  forth  by  the  right  way,  that 
they  might  go  to  a  city  of  habitation."  He  loves  his  church 
and  the  members  of  it  too  tenderly  to  lay  upon  them  any  bur- 
dens, or  expose  them  to  any  trials,  which  are  not  indispensa- 
ble to  their  good.  It  is  right  for  them  to  "  go  through  fire  and 
through  water,"  that  he  may  "  bring  them  out  into  a  wealthy 
place  "  —  right  to  "  endure  chastening,"  that  "  they  may  be 
partakers  of  his  holiness  "  —  right  to  "  have  the  sentence  of 
death  in  themselves,"  that  they  may  "  trust  in  the  living  God, 
and  that  his  strength  may  be  perfect  in  their  weakness."  It 
is  right  that  he  should  "  endure  with  much  long  suffering  the 
vessels  of  wrath  fitted  to  destruction  ; "  that  he  should  permit 
"  iniquity  to  abound,  the  love  of  many  to  wax  cold,"  and  the 
dangers  of  his  church  to  accumulate,  till  the  interposition  of 
his  arm  be  necessary  and  decisive.  In  the  day  of  final  retri- 
bution, not  one  mouth  shall  be  opened  to  complain  of  injustice. 
It  will  be  seen  that  ,"the  Judge  of  all  the  earth  has  done 
right ;  that  the  works  of  his  hands  have  been  verity  and  judg- 
ment," and  done,  every  one  of  them,  in  "  truth  and  upright- 
ness." Let  us,  then,  think  not  only  respectfully  but  reverently 
of  his  dispensations,  repress  the  voice  of  murmur,  and  rebuke 
the  spirit  of  discontent ;  wait,  in  faith  and  patience,  till  he  be- 
come his  own  interpreter,  when  "  the  heavens  shall  declare  his 
righteousness,  and  all  the  people  see  his  glory." 

You  will  anticipate  me  in  enumerating  the  means  which 
Messiah  employs  in  the  administration  of  his  kingdom. 

1.  The  gospel,  of  which  himself,  as  an  all-sufficient  and  con- 
descending Saviour,  is  the  great  and  affecting  theme.  Deri- 
ded by  the  world,  it  is,  nevertheless,  effectual  to  the  salvation 


280  MESSIAH'S   THRONE. 

of  them  who  believe.  "  We  preach  Christ  crucified  to  the 
Jews  a  stumbling-block,  and  to  the  Greeks  foolishness  ;  but  to 
them  who  are  called,  both  Jews  and  Greeks,  Christ  the  power 
of  God,  and  the  wisdom  of  God."  The  doctrine  of  the  cross 
connected  with  evangelical  ordinances  —  the  ministry  of  re- 
conciliation ;  the  holy  sabbath ;  the  sacraments  of  his  cove- 
nant ;  briefly,  the  whole  system  of  instituted  worship,  is  the 
"  rod  of  the  Redeemer's  strength,"  by  which  he  subdues  sin- 
ners to  himself;  rules  even  in  the  midst  of  his  enemies ;  exer- 
cises his  glorious  authority  in  his  church,  and  exhibits  a  visible 
j)roL>f,  to  men  and  angels,  that  he  is  King  in  Zion. 

2.  The  efficient  means  to  which  the  Gospel  owes  its  success, 
and  the  name  of  Jesus  its  praise,  is  the  agency  of  the  Holy 
Ghost.  Christianity  is  the  ministration  of  the  Spirit,  All 
real  and  sanctifying  knowledge  of  the  truth  and  love  of  God  is 
from  his  inspiration.  It  was  the  last  and  best  promise  which 
the  Saviour  made  to  his  afflicted  disciples  at  the  moment  of 
parting,  "  I  will  send  the  Comforter,  the  Spirit  of  truth ; 
he  shall  glorify  me,  for  he  shall  take  of  mine  and  shall  show 
it  unto  you."  It  is  he  who  "  convinces  the  world  of  sin,  of 
righteousness,  and  of  judgment "  —  who  infuses  resistless  vigor 
into  means  otherwise  weak  and  useless.  "  For  the  weapons 
of  our  warfare  are  not  carnal,  but  mighty  through  God,"  —  God 
the  spirit,  —  "  to  the  pulling  down  of  strong  holds."  Without 
his  benediction,  the  ministry  of  an  archangel  would  never 
"  convert  one  sinner  from  the  error  of  his  way."  But  when 
he  descends,  with  his  life-giving  influence,  from  God  out  of 
heaven,  then  "  foolish  things  of  the  world  confound  the  wise  ; 
and  weak  things  of  the  world  confound  the  things  which  are 
mighty ;  and  base  things  of  the  world,  and  things  which  are 
despised,  yea,  and  things  which  are  not,  bring  to  nought  things 
which  are."  It  is  this  ministration  of  the  Spirit  which  ren- 
ders the  preaching  of  the  gospel  to  "  men  dead  in  trespasses 
and  sins  "  a  reasonable  service.  When  I  am  set  down  in  the 
valley  of  vision^  and  view  the  bones,  very  many  and  very  dry^ 
and  am  desired  to  try  the  effect  of  my  own  ability  in  recalling 
them  to  life,  I  will  fold  my  hands  and  stand  mute  in  astonish- 
ment and  despair.  But  when  the  Lord  God  commands  me  to 
speak  in  his  name,  my  closed  lips  shall  be  opened ;  when  he 
calls  upon  "  the  breath  from  the  four  winds  to  breathe  upon 
the  slain  that  they  may  live,"  I  will  prophesy  without  fear  — 
"  O  ye  dry  bones,  hear  ^the  word  of  the  Lord,"  and,  obedient 
iQ  his  voice,  they  "  shall  come  together,  bone  to  his  bone ; 


MESSIAH*S   THRONE.  281 

shall  be  covered  with  sinews  and  flesh ;  "  shall  receive  new 
life,  and  "  stand  upon  their  feet,  an  exceeding  great  army." 
In  this  manner,  from  the  graves  of  nature  and  the  dry  bones 
of  natural  men,  does  the  Holy  Spirit  recruit  the  armies  of  the 
living  God^  and  make  them,  collectively  and  individually,  "  a 
name,  and  a  praise,  and  a  glory,  to  the  Captain  of  their 
salvation." 

3.  Among  the  instruments  which  the  Lord  Jesus  employs 
in  the  administration  of  his  government,  are  the  resources  of 
the  physical  and  moral  world.  Supreme  in  heaven  and  in 
earth,  "  upholding  all  things  by  the  word  of  his  power,"  the 
universe  is  his  magazine  of  means.  Nothing  which  acts  or  ex- 
ists, is  exempted  from  promoting  in  its  own  place  the  pur- 
poses of  his  kingdom.  Beings  rational  and  irrational,  animate 
and  inanimate ;  the  heavens  above  and  the  earth  below ;  the 
obedience  of  sanctified,  and  the  disobedience  of  unsanctified 
men ;  all  holy  spirits  ;  all  damned  spirits ;  in  one  word,  every 
agency,  every  element,  every  atom,  are  but  the  ministers  of 
his  will,  and  concur  in  the  execution  of  his  designs.  And 
this  he  will  demonstrate,  to  the  confusion  of  his  enemies  and 
the  joy  of  his  people,  in  that  "  great  and  terrible  day  "  when 
he  "  shall  sit  upon  the  throne  of  his  glory,  and  dispense  ulti- 
mate judgment  to  the  quick  and  the  dead. 

Upon  these  hills  of  holiness,  —  the  stability  of  Messiah's 
throne,  and  the  perfect  administration  of  his  kingdom,  —  let  us 
take  our  station,  and  survey  the  prospects  which  rise  up  be- 
fore the  church  of  God.  When  I  look  upon  the  magnificent 
scene,  I  cannot  repress  the  salutation,  ^*  Hail  thou  that  art 
highly  favored  I "  She  has  the  prospect  of  preservation,  of 
increase,  and  of  triumph. 

1.  The  prospect  o^  preservation. 

The  long  existence  of  the  Christian  church  would  be  pro- 
nounced, upon  common  principles  of  reasoning,  impossible. 
She  finds  in  every  man  a  natural  and  inveterate  enemy.  To 
encounter  and  overcome  the  unanimous  hostility  of  the  world, 
she  boasts  no  political  stratagem,  no  disciplined  legions,  no 
outward  coercion  of  any  kind.  Yet  her  expectation  is,  that 
she  shall  live  forever.  To  mock  this  hope,  and  blot  out  her 
memorial  from  under  heaven,  the  most  furious  efforts  of  fana- 
ticism, the  most  ingenious  arts  of  statesmen,  the  concentrated 
strength  of  empires,  have  been  frequently  and  perseveringly 
applied.  The  blood  of  her  sons  and  her  daughters  has  stream- 
ed like  water ;  the  smoke  of  the  scaffold  and  the  stake,  where 
24* 


282  Messiah's  throne. 

they  won  the  crown  of  martyrdom  in  the  cause  of  Jesus,  has 
ascended  in  thick  volumes  to  the  skies.  The  tribes  of  perse- 
cution have  sported  over  her  woes,  and  erected  monuments, 
as  they  imagined,  of  her  perpetual  ruin.  But  where  are  her 
tyrants,  and  where  their  empires  ?  The  tyrants  have  long  since 
gone  to  their  own  place ;  their  names  have  descended  upon 
the  roll  of  infamy ;  their  empires  have  passed,  like  shadows 
over  the  rock  —  they  have  successively  disappeared,  and  left 
not  a  trace  behind  ! 

But  what  became  of  the  church  ?  She  rose  from  her  ashes, 
fresh  in  beauty  and  in  might.  Celestial  glory  beamed  around 
her ;  she  dashed  down  the  monumental  marble  of  her  foes, 
and  they  who  hated  her  fled  before  her.  She  has  celebrated 
the  funeral  of  kings  and  kingdoms  that  plotted  her  destruction ; 
and,  with  the  inscriptions  of  their  pride,  has  transmitted  to 
posterity  the  record  of  their  shame.  How  shall  this  phenom- 
enon be  explained?  We  are,  at  the  present  moment,  wit- 
nesses of  the  fact ;  but  who  can  unfold  the  mystery  ?  This 
blessed  book,  the  book  of  truth  and  life,  has  made  our  wonder 
to  cease.  The  Lord  her  God  in  the  midst  of  her  is 
MIGHTY.  His  presence  is  a  fountain  of  health,  and  his  pro- 
tection a  wall  of  fire.  He  has  betrothed  her,  in  eternal  cov- 
nant,  to  himself.  Her  living  Head,  in  whom  she  lives,  is 
above,  and  his  quickening  Spirit  shall  never  depart  from  her. 
Armed  with  divine  virtue,  his  gospel,  secret,  silent,  unobserv- 
ed, enters  the  hearts  of  men  and  sets  up  an  everlasting  king- 
dom. It  eludes  all  the  vigilance,  and  baffles  all  the  power,  of 
the  adversary.  Bars  and  bolts  and  dungeons  are  no  obstacle 
to  its  approach.  Bonds  and  tortures  and  death  cannot  ex- 
tinguish its  influence.  Let  no  man's  heart  tremble,  then, 
because  of  fear.  Let  no  man  despair,  in  these  days  of  rebuke 
and  blasphemy,  of  the  Christian  cause.  The  ark  is  launched, 
indeed,  upon  the  floods  ;  the  tempest  sweeps  along  the  deep  ; 
the  billows  break  over  her  on  every  side.  But  Jehovah-Jesus 
has  promised  to  conduct  her  in  safety  to  the  haven  of  peace. 
She  cannot  be  lost,  unless  the  pilot  perish.  Why  then  do  the 
heathen  rage,  and  the  people  imagine  a  vain  thing '^  Hear, 
O  Zion,  the  word  of  thy  God,  and  rejoice  for  the  consolation. 
"  No  weapon  that  is  formed  against  thee  shall  prosper,  and 
every  tongue  that  shall  rise  against  thee  in  judgment  thou 
shalt  condemn.  This  is  the  heritage  of  the  servants  of  the 
Lord,  and  their  righteousness  is  of  me,  saith  the  Lord." 

Mere  preservation,  however,  though  a  most  comfortable,  is 
not  the  only  hope  of  the  church ;  she  has 


Messiah's  throne.  283 

2.  The  prospect  of  increase. 

Increase  —  from  an  effectual  blessing  upon  the  means  of 
grace  in  places  where  thej  are  already  enjoyed ;  for  thus  saith 
the  Lord,  "  I  will  pour  water  upon  him  that  is  thirsty,  and 
floods  upon  the  dry  ground  ;  I  will  pour  my  Spirit  upon  thy 
seed,  and  my  blessing  upon  thine  offspring;  and  they  shall 
spring  up  as  among  the  grass,  as  willows  by  the  water- 
courses." 

Increase  —  from  the  diffusion  of  evangelical  truth  through 
pagan  lands.  "For  behold,  the  darkness  shall  cover  the 
earth,  and  gross  darkness  the  people  ;  but  the  Lord  shall  arise 
upon  thee,  and  his  glory  shall  be  seen  upon  thee.  And  the 
Gentiles  shall  come  to  thy  light,  and  the  kings  to  the  bright- 
ness of  thy  rising.  Lift  up  thine  eyes  round  about  and  see  : 
all  they  gather  themselves  together,  they  come  to  thee :  thy 
sons  shall  come  from  far,  and  thy  daughters  shall  be  nursed  at 
thy  side.  Then  thou  shalt  see,  and  flow  together,  and  thine 
heart  shall  fear,  and  be  enlarged ;  because  the  abundance  of 
the  sea  shall  be  converted  unto  thee,  the  forces  of  the  Gentiles 
shall  come  unto  thee." 

Increase —  from  the  recovery  of  the  rejected  Jews  to  the 
faith  and  privileges  of  God's  dear  children.  "  Blindness  in 
part  has  happened  unto  Israel "  —  they  have  been  cut  off,  for 
their  unbelief,  from  the  olive-tree.  Age  has  followed  age, 
and  they  remain  to  this  hour,  spread  over  the  face  of  the 
earth,  a  fearful  and  affecting  testimony  to  the  truth  of  God's 
word.  They  are  without  their  sanctuary,  without  their  Mes- 
siah, without  the  hope  of  their  believing  ancestors.  But  it 
shall  not  be  always  thus.  They  are  still  "  beloved  for  the  Fa- 
ther's sake."  When  the  "  fullness  of  the  Gentiles  shall  come 
in,"  they  too  shall  be  gathered.  They  shall  discover,  in  our 
Jesus,  the  marks  of  the  promised  Messiah ;  and,  with  tender- 
ness proportioned  to  their  former  inseiisibility,  shall  cling  to 
his  cross.  Grafted  again  into  their  own  olive-tree,  "  all  Israel 
shall  be  saved."  It  was  "through  their  fall  that  salvation 
came  unto  us  Gentiles."  And,  "  if  the  casting  away  of  them 
be  the  reconciling  of  the  world,  what  shall  the  receiving  of 
them  be,  but  life  from  the  dead  ?  "  What  ecstasy,  my  breth- 
ren !  the  Gentile  and  the  Jew  taking  "  sweet  counsel  together, 
and  going  to  the  house  of  God  in  company !  "  the  path  of  the 
swift  messenger  of  grace  marked,  in  every  direction,  by  the 
"  fullness  of  the  blessing  of  the  gospel  of  Christ "  —  a  nation 
born  at  once  —  the  children  of  2ion  exclaiming,  "  The  place 


284  Messiah's  throne. 

is  too  strait  for  me:  give  place  to  me  that  I  may  dwell/* 
The  knowledge  of  Jehovah  overspreading  the  earth,  as  the 
waters  cover  the  sea ;  and  all  flesh  enjoying  the  salvation  of 
God! 

This  faith  ushers  in  a 

3.  Prospect  of  the  church  —  the  prospect  of  triumph. 

Though  often  desolate,  and  "  afflicted,  tossed  with  tempest 
and  not  comforted,'*  the  Lord  her  God  will  then  make  her  an 
eternal  excellency,  and  repay  her  sorrows  with  triumph  — 

Triumph  —  in  complete  victory  over  the  enemies  w^ho 
sought  her  hurt.  "  The  nation  and  kingdom,"  saith  the  Lord, 
"  that  will  not  serve  thee  shall  perish ;  yea  those  nations  shall 
be  utterly  wasted.  —  The  sons  also  of  them  that  afflicted  thee 
shall  come  bending  unto  thee ;  and  all  they  that  despised  thee 
shall  bow  themselves  down  at  the  soles  of  thy  feet ;  and  they 
shall  call  thee  the  city  of  the  Lord,  the  Zion  of  the  Holy  One 
of  Israel."  That  great  enemy  of  her  purity  and  her  peace, 
who  shed  the  blood  of  her  saints  and  her  prophets,  the  "  Man 
OF  Sin  who  has  exalted  himself  above  all  that  is  called  God," 
shall  appear,  in  the  whole  horror  of  his  doom,  as  the  "  son  of 
perdition,  whom  the  Lord  shall  consume  with  the  spirit  of  his 
mouth,  and  shall  destroy  with  the  brightness  of  his  coming." 
The  terrible  but  joyous  event  shall  be  announced  by  an  angel 
from  heaven,  "  crying  mightily  with  a  strong  voice,  Babylon 
the  great  is  fallen,  is  fallen  ! "  "  Alleluia  !"  shall  be  the  re- 
sponse of  the  church  universal ;  "  Salvation,  and  glory,  and 
honor,  and  power,  unto  the  Lord  our  God ;  for  true  and  righte- 
ous are  his  judgments ;  for  he  hath  judged  the  great  whore 
which  did  corrupt  the  earth  with  her  fornication,  and  hath 
avenged  the  blood  of  his  servants  at  her  hand !  "  Then  too, 
"  the  accuser  of  the  brethren  —  that  old  serpent  which  is  the 
devil,"  shall  be  cast  down,  "  and  bound  a  thousand  years  that 
he  shall  deceive  the  nations  no  more." — This  will  introduce 
the  church's 

Triumph  —  in  the  prevalence  of  righteousness  and  peace 
throughout  the  world.  "  Her  people  shall  be  all  righteous." 
The  voice  of  the  blasphemer  shall  no  longer  insult  her  ear. 
Iniquity,  as  ashamed,  shall  stop  its  mouth,  and  hide  its  head. 
"  All  her  officers  shall  be  peace,  and  all  her  exactors,  righteous- 
ness." The  kings  of  the  earth,  bringing  their  glory  and  honor 
unto  her,  shall  accomplish  the  gracious  promise.  "  The 
mountains  shall  bring  peace  to  the  people,  and  the  little  hills 
by  righteousness."     Her  prince,  whose  throne  is  forever  and 


Messiah's  throne.  285 

ever,  "  shall  judge  among  the  nations,  and  shall  rebuke  many 
people ;  ai\d  they  shall  beat  their  swords  into  ploughshares, 
and  their  spears  into  pruning  hooks :  nation  shall  not  lift  up 
sword  against  nation,  neither  shall  they  learn  war  any  more ! " 
Every  man  shall  meet,  in  every  other  man,  a  brother  without 
dissimulation.  Fear  and  the  sword  shall  be  far  away ;  "  they 
shall  sit  every  man  under  his  vine,  and  under  his  fig-tree,  and 
none  shall  make  them  afraid."  For  thus  saith  the  Lord, 
"  Violence  shall  no  more  be  heard  in  thy  land,  wasting  nor  de- 
struction within  thy  borders ;  but  thou  shalt  call  thy  walls, 
Salvation,  and  thy  gates,  Praise." 

Triumph  —  in  the  presence  of  God,  in  the  communion  of 
his  love,  and  the  signal  manifestation  of  his  glory.  "  Behold, 
the  tabernacle  of  God  shall  be  with  men,  and  he  will  dwell 
with  them,  and  they  shall  be  his  people,  and  God  himself  shall 
be  with  them,  and  be  their  God."  Then  shall  be  seen  "  the 
holy  Jerusalem  descending  out  of  heaven  from  God,  which 
shall  have  no  need  of  the  sun,  neither  of  the  moon,  to  shine  in 
it ;  for  the  glory  of  God  shall  lighten  it,  and  the  Lamb  shall 
be  the  light  thereof.  And  the  nations  of  them  which  are  sav- 
ed shall  walk  in  the  light  of  it,  —  and  they  shall  bring  the 
glory  and  honor  of  the  nations  unto  it ;  and  there  shall  in  no 
wise  enter  into  it  any  thing  that  defileth,  neither  whatsoever 
worketh  abomination,  or  maketh  a  lie :  but  they  which  are 
written  in  the  Lamb's  book  of  life." 

Such,  according  to  the  sure  word  of  prophecy,  will  be  the 
triumphs  of  Christianity ;  and  to  this  issue  all  Scriptural  efforts 
to  evangelize  the  heathen  contribute  their  share.  That  mind 
is  profane,  indeed,  which  repels  the  sentiment  of  awe ;  and 
hard  is  the  heart  which  feels  no  bland  emotion.  But  let  us 
pause.  — You  |exult,  perhaps,  in  the  view  of  that  happiness 
which  is  reserved  for  the  human  race ;  you  long  for  its  arri- 
val ;  and  are  eager,  in  your  place,  to  help  on  the  gracious 
work.  It  is  well.  But  are  there  no  heathen  in  this  assem- 
bly ?  Are  there  none  who,  in  the  midst  of  their  zeal  for  for- 
eign missions,  forget  their  own  souls ;  nor  consider  that  they 
themselves  neglect  the  great  salvation  ?  Remember,  my  breth- 
ren, that  a  man  may  be  active  in  measures  which  shall  sub- 
serve the  conversion  of  others,  and  yet  perish  in  his  own 
iniquity.  That  very  Gospel  which  you  desire  to  send  to  the 
heathen,  must  be  the  Gospel  of  your  salvation  ;  it  must  turn 
^'  you  from  darkness  to  light,  from  the  power  of  Satan  unto 
God ; "  it  must  make  "  you  meet  for  the  inheritance  of  the 


286  Messiah's  throne. 

saints,"  or  it  shall  fearfully  aggravate  your  condemnation  at 
last.  You  pray,  "  Thy  kingdom  come."  But  is  the  "  king- 
dom of  God  within  you  ?  "  Is  the  Lord  Jesus  "  in  you,  the 
hope  of  glory  ?  "  Be  not  deceived.  The  name  of  Christian 
will  not  save  you.  Better  had  it  been  for  you  "  not  to  have 
known  the  way  of  righteousness  "  —  better  to  have  been  the 
most  idolatrous  pagan  —  better,  infinitely  better,  not  to  have 
been  born,  than  to  die  strangers  to  the  pardon  of  the  Redeem- 
er's blood,  and  the  sanctifying  virtue  of  his  Spirit.  From  his 
throne  on  high  he  calls  ;  calls,  my  brethren,  to  you ;  "  Look 
unto  me,  and  be  ye  saved,  for  I  am  God,  and  there  is  none 
else.  Seek  ye  the  Lord  while  he  may  be  found  ;  call  ye  upon 
him  while  he  is  near ;  let  the  wicked  forsake  his  way,  and  the 
unrighteous  man  his  thoughts,  and  let  him  return  unto  the 
Lord,  and  he  will  have  mercy  upon  him  ;  and  to  our  God,  for 
he  will  abundantly  pardon." 

On  the  other  hand,  such  as  have  "  fled  for  refuge  to  lay  hold 
on  the  hope  set  before  them,"  are  commanded  to  be  "joyful  in 
their  King."  He  reigns,  O  believer,  for  thee.  The  stability 
of  his  throne  is  thy  safety.  The  administration  of  his  govern- 
ment is  for  thy  good ;  and  the  precious  pledge  that  he  "  will 
perfect  that  which  concerneth  thee."  In  all  thy  troubles  and 
in  all  thy  joy,  "  commit  thy  way  unto  him."  He  will  guard  the 
sacred  deposit.  Fear  not  that  thou  shalt  lack  any  good  thing 
fear  not  that  thou  shalt  be  forsaken  —  fear  not  that  thou  shalt 
fall  beneath  the  arm  of  the  oppressor.  "  He  went  through 
the  fires  of  the  pit  to  save  thee ;  and  he  will  stake  all  the  glo- 
ries of  his  crown  to  keep  thee."  Sing,  then,  thou  beloved, 
"  Behold,  God  is  my  salvation ;  I  will  trust,  and  not  be  afraid ; 
for  the  Lord  Jehovah  is  my  strength  and  my  song ;  he  also  is 
become  my  salvation." 

And  if  we  have  "  tasted  that  he  is  gracious  ;  "  if  we  look 
back  with  horror  and  transport  upon  the  wretchedness  and  the 
wrath  which  we  have  escaped ;  with  what  anxiety  shall  we  not 
hasten  to  the  aid  of  our  fellow-men,  who  are  "  sitting  in  the 
region  and  shadow  of  death."  What  zeal  will  be  too  ardent, 
what  labor  too  persevering,  what  sacrifice  too  costly,  if,  by 
any  means,  we  may  tell  them  of  Jesus,  and  the  resurrection, 
and  the  life  eternal !  Who  shall  be  daunted  by  difficulties,  or 
deterred  by  discouragement  ?  If  but  one  pagan  should  be 
brought,  savingly,  by  your  instrumentality,  to  the  knowledge 
of  God  and  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  will  you  not,  my  breth- 
ren, have  an  ample  recompense  ?     Is  there  here  a  man  who 


Messiah's  throne.  ,  287 

would  give  up  all  for  lost,  because  some  favorite  hope  has  been 
disappointed  ?  or  who  regrets  the  worldly  substance  which  he 
has  expended  on  so  divine  an  enterprise?  Shame  on  thy 
coward  spirit  and  thine  avaricious  heai't !  Do  the  holy  Scrip- 
tures, does  the  experience  of  ages,  does  the  nature  of  things, 
justify  the  expectation,  that  we  shall  carry  war  into  the  cen- 
tral regions  of  delusion  and  crime,  without  opposition,  without 
trial  ?  Show  me  a  plan  which  encounters  not  fierce  resistance 
from  the  prince  of  darkness  and  his  allies  in  the  human  heart, 
and  I  will  show  you  a  plan  which  never  came  from  the  inspi- 
ration of  God.  If  missionary  effort  suffer  occasional  embar- 
rassment ;  if  impressions  on  the  heathen  be  less  speedy,  and 
powerful,  and  extensive,  than  fond  wishes  have  anticipated ; 
if  particular  parts  of  the  great  system  of  operation  be,  at  times, 
disconcerted ;  if  any  of  the  ministers  of  grace  fall  a  sacrifice 
to  the  violence  of  those  whom  they  go  to  bless  in  the  name  of 
the  Lord  ;  —  these  are  events  which  ought  to  exercise  our  faith 
and  patience ;  to  wean  us  from  self-sufficiency ;  to  teach  us 
where  our  strength  lies,  and  where  our  dependence  must  be 
fixed  ;  but  not  to  enfeeble  hope,  nor  relax  diligence.  Let  us 
not  "  despise  the  day  of  small  things."  Let  us  not  overlook, 
as  unimportant  matter,  the  very  existence  of  that  missionary 
spirit,  which  has  already  awakened  Christians  in  different 
countries  from  their  long  and  dishonorable  slumbers,  and  bids 
fair  to  prookice,  in  due  season,  a  general  movement  of  the 
church  upon  earth.  Let  us  not,  for  one  instant,  harbor  the 
ungracious  thought,  that  the  prayers,  and  tears,  and  wrestlings 
of  those  who  "  make  mention  of  the  Lord,"  form  no  link  in  that 
vast  chain  of  events  by  which  he  "  will  establish,  and  will  make 
Jerusalem  a  praise  in  the  earth."  That  dispensation  which 
of  all  others  is  most  repulsive  \o  flesh  and  Mood,  —  the  violent 
death  of  faithful  missionaries,  —  should  animate  Christians  with 
new  resolution.  "  Precious  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord  is  the 
death  of  his  saints."  The  cry  of  martyred  blood  ascends  the 
heavens ;  it  enters  into  "  the  ears  of  the  Lord  of  Sabaoth."  It 
will  give  him  no  rest,  till  he  rain  down  righteousness  upon  the 
land  where  it  has  been  shed,  and  which  it  has  sealed,  as  a  fu- 
ture conquest,  for  him  who  "  in  his  majesty  rides  prosperously 
because  of  truth,  and  meekness,  and  righteousness." 

For  the  world,  indeed,  and  perhaps  for  the  church,  many 
calamities  and  trials  are  in  store,  before  the  glory  of  the  Lord 
shall  be  so  revealed  that  all  flesh  shall  see  it  together.  "  I 
will  shake  all  nations,"  is  the  divine  declaration,  "and  the 


288  Messiah's  throne. 

desire  of  all  nations  shall  come.  The  vials  of  wrath  which  are 
now  running,  and  others  which  remain  to  be  poured  out,  must 
be  exhausted.  The  supper  of  the  great  God  must  be  prepar- 
ed, and  his  strange  work  have  its  course.  Yet  the  missionary- 
cause  must  ultimately  succeed.  It  is  the  cause  of  God,  and 
shall  prevail.  The  days,  O  brethren,  roll  rapidly  on,  when 
the  shout  of  the  isles  shall  swell  the  thunder  of  the  continent ; 
when  the  Thames  and  the  Danube,  when  the  Tiber  and  the 
Rhine,  shall  call  upon  Euphrates,  the  Ganges,  and  the  Nile  ; 
and  the  loud  concert  shall  be  joined  by  the  Hudson,  the  Mis- 
sissippi, and  the  Amazon,  singing  with  one  heart  and  one 
voice.  Alleluia !  Salvation  I  The  Lord  God  omnipotent 
reigneth ! 

Comfort  one  another  with  this  faith,  and  with  these  words : 

Now,  "  Blessed  be  the  Lord  God,  the  God  of  Israel,  who 

only  doeth  wondrous  things.     And  blessed  be  his  glorious 

name  forever:  let  the  whole  earth  be  filled  with 

HIS  GLORY  !     Amen,  and  Amen  I " 


MISSIONARY  POWER. 

BY 

KEV.    BARON    STOW. 

Tarry  ye  in  the  city  of  Jerusalem,  until  ye  be  endued  Avith  power  from  on  high. 
LuKi:24:  49. 

Great  enterprises  require  strong  men.  The  missionary 
enterprise  is  by  far  the  greatest  in  which  human  agency  was 
ever  employed,  and,  for  its  elFective  execution,  demands  the 
strongest  men  which  the  churches  can  furnish. 

It  was  upon  this  principle,  I  suppose,  that  the  Saviour, 
when  about  to  ascend,  gave  to  his  disciples  that  extraordinary 
direction,  "  Tarry  ye  in  Jerusalem,  until  ye  be  endued  with 
power  from  on  high."  He  had  already  appointed  them  as 
his  missionaries,  and  charged  them  to  preach  "  repentance 
and  remission  of  sins  in  his  name,  among  all  nations,  begin- 
ning at  Jerusalem."  But  the  undertaking  was  one  of  im- 
mense magnitude,  environed  with  appalling  difficulties,  and 
involving  peculiar  personal  hazards  ;  and  he  well  knew  that, 
notwithstanding  all  the  instruction  which  they  had  received, 
and  all  the  discipline  to  which  they  had  been  subjected,  and 
all  the  examples  which  they  had  witnessed  in  himself,  as  the 
faultless  model  of  missionary  excellence,  they  were  but  imper- 
fectly qualified  for  the  arduous  labors  and  weighty  responsibil- 
ities, which  the  service  would  impose. 

They  needed  the  ability  to  speak  the  languages  of  the 
people  whom  they  might  visit ;  and  this,  if  they  should  pro- 
ceed immediately  to  their  work,  must  be  miraculously  sup- 
plied. They  were  to  commend  to  an  infidel  world  a  system 
of  religion,  whose  claims  to  credibility  must  be  established  by 
some  extraordinary  manifestations  of  its  divine  origin  ;  and 
they  needed  the  power  of  working  such  wonders,  as  should 
carry  conviction  to  the  most  incredulous,  that  their  message 
was  no  fable,  their  apostleship  no  imposture.  Besides,  they 
25  ^ 


2^  MISSIONARY   POWER. 

needed  a  large  increase  of  intellectual  and  moral  strength, 
such  as  should  qualify  them  for  any  exigency.  They  needed 
clearer  and  more  comprehensive  views  of  that  scheme  of 
redemption,  whose  mysteries  they  were  to  unfold  to  the  igno- 
rant nations.  They  needed  to  have  the  narrow,  selfish  pre- 
judices of  their  remaining  Judaism  entirely  removed  ;  and 
their  hearts  expanded  by  a  benevolence  that  should  encom- 
pass the  world ;  and  their  whole  moral  natures  more  deeply 
impregnated  with  the  spirit  of  their  mission  —  the  spirit  of' 
him  who  came,  "  not  to  be  ministered  unto,  but  to  minister, 
and  to  give  his  life  a  ransom  for  many."  They  needed  a 
faith,  that  should  embrace  all  the  promises  ;  a  boldness,  that 
should  fearlessly  encounter  any  opposition  ;  a  courage,  that 
should  be  terrified  by  no  danger  ;  a  fortitude,  that  should 
quietly  endure  any  suffering  ;  a  wisdom,  sufficient  for  any 
emergency  ;  a  love,  that  should  make  them  inexpressibly  ten- 
der, and  melt  before  them  a  pathway  through  the  ice  and  the 
iron  of  human  depravity. 

All  this  the  Saviour  knew  and  appreciated  ;  atid,  with  a 
prudence  in  which  kindness  and  wisdom  were  richly  blended, 
he  directed  them  to  remain  where  they  were,  until  the  requi- 
site qualifications  should  be  imparted.  He  was  about  to  take 
his  place  upon  the  Mediator's  throne  ;  and  one  of  his  first 
acts,  after  receiving  the  joyous  w^elcome  of  the  heavenly 
choir,  who  had  long  been  rehearsing  for  the  occasion,  and 
were  then  waiting  in  mid  heavep  for  his  triumphant  arrival, 
w^ould  be  the  fulfilment  of  th^^glorious  promise  —  the  send- 
ing of  that  Spirit,  which  should  Avork  in  them  every  needed 
transformation,  and  clothe  them  with  the  required  energies. 

They  obeyed  his  command,  and,  ten  days  afterwards,  while 
engaged  in  social  devotion  —  the  very  employment  which 
Heaven  loves  especially  to  sanction  —  the  promised  Influence 
descended,  and  enveloped  them,  and  penetrated  them,  and 
wrought  such  changes,  as  that  each  of  them  became  at  once 
a  man  of  strength,  "  thoroughly  furnished  unto  all  good 
works."  Emerging  from  this  baptism,  they  were  conscious  of 
the  transition  through  which  they  had  passed ;  and,  "  strength- 
ened with  might,"  they  went  forth  to  their  work,  assaulting 
the  strongest  defences  of  sin,  grappling  with  Satan's  veteran 
phalanxes,  and  winning  for  their  prince  a  thousand  bloodless 
victories. 

How  soon,  and  how  surely,  did  the  nations  feel  and  confess 
the  power  of  these  evangelical  giants !     Divinely  illuminated, 


MISSIONARr   POWER.  291 

supported,  protected,  they  said  what  no  others  could  say,  they 
did  what  no  others  could  do,  they  endured  what  no  others 
could  endure  ;  and,  passing  from  province  to  province,  we 
hear  them  ever  and  anon  exclaiming,  "  Thanks  be  unto 
God,  who  always  causeth  us  to  triumph  in  Christ,  and 
maketh  manifest  the  savor  of  his  knowledge  by  us,  in  every 
place." 

The  Romans,  in  the  days  of  their  national  vigor,  con- 
structed magnificent  roads,  commencing  all  at  the  Forum,  and 
extending  to  the  frontiers  of  the  empire,  thus  making  every 
portion  of  the  realm  accessible  to  their  arts  and  their  arms. 
These  disciples  of  Jesus,  who,  "  out  of  w^eakness  were  made 
strong,"  proceeding  all  from  the  cross,  as  the  point  of  depart- 
ure, cut  each  his  way  right  onward,  through  the  domains  of 
sin,  to  the  outermost  limit  of  the  known  world  ;  and  then, 
with  the  columns  of  converts  which  lined  these  radii  —  the 
right  of  each  column  resting  upon  Calvary  —  they  swept  the 
intermediate  segments  of  the  circle ;  and  thus  was  executed, 
as  has  never  since  been  done,  the  behest  of  the  ascending  Sa- 
viour, "  Go  ye  into  all  the  world,  and  preach  the  Gospel  to 
every  creature." 

Salutary,  indeed,  was  the  transformation  which  every 
where  appeared  in  the  track  of  these  moral  conquerors.  Not 
more  surely  can  the  eye,  from  the  summit  of  the  pyramid, 
trace  the  meanderings  of  Egypt's  river,  by  its  line  of  velvet 
verdure,  through  the  brown  and  sterile  desert,  than  the  ob- 
server of  apostolic  movements  could  discover  the  progress, 
from  week  to  .w^eek,  of  these  mighty  ones,  by  the  improve- 
ment, —  moral,  intellectual,  political,  and  physical,  —  which 
was.  uniformly  the  result  of  their  labors,  and  which  denoted, 
unequivocally,  the  accompaniment  of  a  superhuman  influ- 
ence. No  candid  one  has  ever  doubted  that  they  were  strong 
men. 

At  no  time  since  the  apostolic  period,  has  the  Head  of 
the  Church  considered  it  as  necessary  to  qualify  his  mission- 
ary servants  for  their  work,  by  the  intervention  of  miracles  ; 
and  with  some  of  the  elements  of  power,  which  he  then 
deemed  to  be  requisite,  he  very  soon  dispensed,  giving  no 
intimation  that  they  would  ever  again  be  required  or  con- 
ferred. But  the  necessity  that  the  missionary  to  the  heathen 
should  be  a  strong  man,  is  by  no  means  suspended.  The 
command  just  quoted,  for  the  disciples  to  wait  until  endued  ^ 
with  power  from  on  high,  I  take  to  be  an  explicit  recognition 


292  MISSIONARY  POWER. 

of  the  principle,  that  the  enterprise  requires  agents  of  more 
than  ordinary  ability ;  and  though,  as  a  specific  injunction,  it 
pertained  to  the  few  who  were  personally  addressed,  yet,  in 
its  spirit,  I  suppose,  it  inculcates  a  lesson  suited  to  all  their 
successors. 

The  term  power^  when  applied  to  men,  even  to  mission- 
aries, you  will  of  course  understand  me  as  using  in  a  subor- 
dinate and  qualified  sense,  differing  widely  from  the  accepta- 
tion in  which  we  employ  it,  with  respect  to  their  Almighty 
Ally,  the  Holy  Spirit.  We  use  it,  as  denoting  those  qualities 
which  adapt  them  to  the  accomplishment  of  the  proposed 
end  ;  constituting  them  —  not  the  mere  instruments  —  a  term 
which  ought  never  to  be  applied,  in  such  a  connection,  to 
moral  beings  —  but  the  qualified  agents,  through  whose  vo- 
luntary and  well-directed  efforts,  God  may  gather  into  one 
his  chosen  who  are  scattered  abroad.  There  is  such  a  thing 
as  special  adaptation  to  usefulness  in  the  missionary  work, 
and  this  adaptation  we  denominate  Power. 

The  Saviour  was  pleased  to  increase  the  ability  of  the  few 
missionaries  whom  he  had  selected,  rather  than  to  multiply 
their  number  ;  and  thus  he  established  for  us  the  principle, 
not  only  that  this  class  of  laborers  should  be  well  qualified 
[  men,  but  also,  that,  while  "the  laborers  are  few,"  we  render 
^  an  important  service,  by  enlarging  their  qualifications  for 
their  appointed  and  peculiar  work.  If,  by  any  means,  the 
ability  of  a  missionary  candidate  to  be  useful  can  be  doubled, 
then,  by  doubling  his  ability,  w^e  do  essentially  the  same  as  to 
call  into  the  field  an  additional  laborer.  If  we  increase  his 
power  ten-fold,  then  we  render  him  ten  times  as  capable  of 
effect,  without  any  addition  to  the  expense  of  his  support. 
Who  of  us  has  not  seen  this  practically  demonstrated  — 
an  individual,  with  faculties  and  affections  all  thoroughly 
trained,  moving  through  the  world  with  a  consecrated  mo- 
mentum, which  fifty  others,  destitute  of  his  qualifications, 
could  never  equal  ? 

It  would  be  but  common-place,  if  I  were  to  consider  the 
elements  of  this  desirable  power  under  the  bi-fold  classifica- 
tion of  Intellectual  and  Moral  ;  and  yet,  to  manufacture  any 
other  distinction,  or  adopt  any  other  names,  would  be  sheer 
affectation.  Let  these,  then,  be  the  simple  designations  of  the 
two  kinds  of  ability,  which,  united  in  suitable  proportions, 
constitute  Missionary  Power. 


MISSIONARY   POWER.  293 

I.    Iniellectual  Power. 

This  department  includes  a  number  of  important  parti- 
culars. 

1.  Native  talent  This  I  mention  first,  for  it  is  fundamen- 
tal. Without  it,  you  cannot,  by  any  process,  make  a  strong 
man.  Neither  education  nor  grace  supplies  constitutional 
defects.  A  man  may  have  the  requisite  piety,  and  he  may 
have  been  favored  with  the  best  facilities  for  extended  intel- 
lectual culture,  and  yet  not  possess  the  kind  or  measure  of 
native  talent  appropriate  to  a  work  so  formidable  as  the 
evangelizing  of  a  world  that  lieth  in  the  wicked  one.  The 
missionary  should  have  a  mind  that  is  originally  vigorous 
and  well  balanced,  with  no  faculty  unduly  protuberant,  and 
no  one  greatly  depressed  —  a  mind  susceptible  of  harmonious 
and  well  proportioned  development  —  a  mind  naturally  strong, 
and  capable  of  being  made,  by  judicious  training,  a  hundred 
fold  stronger.  The  churches  contain  multitudes  of  good  men, 
w'hose  moral  feelings  and  principles  can  be  trusted,  and  whose 
desire  to  be  useful  is  worthy  of  all  commendation,  but  whose 
intellectual  natures  are  so  cast  and  constructed,  as  that  by  no 
training  can  they  be  qualified  to  make  much  impression  upon 
their  race.  The  men  we  need  for  effective  service  among 
the  heathen,  are  not  those  whom  nature  has  modeled  upon  a 
small  scale  —  men  of  puny  minds,  whose  predestination  is 
intellectual  dwarfishness  and  imbecility ;  —  but  men  whose 
mental  structure  includes  no  weak  timbers  —  men  w^iose  in- 
ward architecture  partakes  largely  of  the  sturdy  and  magni- 
ficent Doric  —  men  who,  by  the  simple  majesty  of  their  native 
qualities,  w^ould  anywhere  command  the  respect  of  the  mul- 
titude. There  are  fields  in  which  men  of  slender  capacity 
may  labor,  and  not  without  effect;  but  those  fields  are  at 
home.  To  send  such  men  to  convert  the  pagan  world,  is  more 
than  inexpedient. 

2.  Practical  good  sense.  Every  one  is  acquainted  with 
ministers  of  talent,  intelligence,  and  piety,  whose  influence  is 
feeble,  and  who  can  never  accomplish  much  for  Zion,  be- 
cause of  a  deficiency  of  that  indefinable,  and  yet  invaluable 
quality,  denominated  common  sense  —  an  element  of  charac- 
ter that  is  not  quite  as  common  as  its  name  imports.  In  the  es- 
timation of  all  men,  —  Jew  and  Gentile,  ignorant  and  learned, 
—  nothing  is  a  substitute  for  it,  or  can  make  amends  for  its  ab- 
sence. Where  it  is  wanting,  respect  and  confidence  are 
wanting,  and  the  man's  influence  is  almost  a  nullity.     But 

25* 


294  MISSIONARY   POWER. 

where  it  exists,  in  happy  combination  with  other  qualities,  it 
is  always  an  element  of  power,  rendering  its  possessor  consi- 
derate and  discreet,  not  only  in  selecting  his  mode,  but  in 
applying  his  means,  of  usefulness.  No  where  is  this  quality 
so  important  as  in  the  missionary,  and  especially  the  mission- 
ary pioneer,  whose  least  indiscretion  might  jeopard  interests 
of  the  greatest  magnitude. 

Experience  has  taught  some  lessons  upon  this  subject, 
which  it  is  undesirable  should  be  repeated,  and  the  question, 
—  "  Has  he  good  sense  ?  "  —  is  sure  to  be  propounded,  res- 
pecting every  candidate  for  missionary  service.  And  they 
who  know  the  most  of  the  peculiar  character  of  that  service, 
having  been  the  longest  on  the  high  places  of  the  field,  and 
become  the  most  deeply  interested  in  the  success  of  the  enter- 
prise, are  pressing  this  question  the  most  closely,  and  insisting 
upon  an  unqualified  and  unequivocal  answer.  Has  he  good 
sense  ?  —  practical  wisdom  ?  Is  he  careful,  circumspect,  judi- 
cious ?  Is  he  one  whose  footsteps  may  safely  be  trodden  by 
his  successors,  and  whose  influence  none  may  have  occasion 
to  deplore  ?  The  man  who  discards  prudence  as  a  super- 
fluity, or  discretion  as  an  incumbrance,  even  under  the  pre- 
text of  being  guided  by  the  Spirit,  is  tolerable  no  where ;  in 
the  missionary  field  he  is  a  nuisance,  from  which  the  heathen 
may  well  pray,  "  Good  Lord,  deliver  us ! " 

3.  Extensive  Knowledge,  Lord  Yerulam  said,  and  so, 
parrot-like,  have  said  a  million  others,  that  "  Knowledge  is 
power."  Trite  as  may  be  the  expression,  yet  how  just  is  the 
sentiment.  It  is  as  true  in  morals  as  in  physics,  in  religion 
as  in  philosophy,  in  the  missionary  of  the  cross  as  in  the  arti- 
san, the  civil  engineer  or  the  statesman.  The  possessor  of 
truth  can  exercise  a  species  of  sovereignty,  that  approaches 
nearer  than  any  other  in  resemblance  to  the  divine.  Not  only 
is  he  stronger  than  any  other  man,  but  stronger  than  many 
others  who  have  it  not,  for  he  can  accomplish  things  to  which 
they  are  inadequate.  He  has  the  true  Archimedean  lever,  with 
which  the  world  is  heaved. 

The  great  object  of  the  Christian  missionary  is  such,  in  a 
a  variety  of  aspects,  as  that  the  unintelligent  are  not  suited  to 
its  accomplishment.  "We  prescribe  not  the  measure  of  his 
necessary  knowledge,  nor  how,  nor  where,  it  must  be  acquired ; 
but  we  hesitate  not  to  say,  that,  other  things  being  equal,  the 
more  copious  his  intellectual  acquirements,  the  greater  is  his 
ability  to  do  good.     It  is  a  singular  fact,  that  the  most  learned 


MISSIONARY  POWER.  295 

apostle  was  the  one  whose  history  fills  the  largest  space  in 
the  evangelical  record,  and  whose  productions  a  careful  Pro- 
vidence has  preserved,  for  the  benefit  of  subsequent  genera- 
tions. In  all  the  circle  of  the  missionary  Anakim,  he  was  the 
Saul,  —  head  and  shoulders  above  the  most  prominent  of  his 
comrades.  His  intellectual  power  was  the  greatest,  his  influ- 
ence the  most  extensively  felt,  his  impression  upon  society  the 
deepest  and  the  longest  perpetuated.  The  world  has  seen 
but  one  Paul  ;  and,  in  selecting  him  as  a  model  missionary, 
and  giving  him  such  extraordinary  success,  and  transmit- 
ting to  us  so  largely  and  minutely  his  instructive  history,  the 
great  Superintendent  of  missions  has  authorized  the  conclu- 
sion, that  the  missionary  enterprise  demands  strong  men. 

That  a  man  may  have  power  over  the  minds  of  others,  for 
useful  purposes,  he  must  be  well  acquainted  with  his  own 
mind,  its  structure,  functions,  capacity,  susceptibilities,  and 
projectile  force.  "  Know  thyself,"  is  an  injunction  of  both 
divine  and  human  wisdom,  which  no  religious  teacher  can 
with  impunity  disobey,  but  which  is  preeminently  important 
to  him  who  assumes  the  high  responsibilities  of  a  missionary 
to  the  heathen.  Whatever  else  he  may  know,  if  he  be  igno- 
rant of  himself,  he  will  perpetrate  many  mistakes,  and  be 
the  victim  of  a  thousand  mortifications.  The  lightest  pen- 
alty which  he  will  have  to  pay,  will  be  the  humiliating 
necessity  of  witnessing  his  own  inefiiciency.  Self-knowledge 
is  power. 

He  must  also  be  thoroughly  acquainted  with  mind  in  gene- 
ral, and  especially  with  the  mind  which  he  is  to  instruct  and 
elevate.  If  supremacy  over  matter  requires  knowledge  of 
matter's  constitution  and  laws,  so  is  knowledge  of  the  human 
mind  indispensable  to  supremacy  over  mind.  He  who  would 
control  it,  must  know  it,  and  know  it  not  only  in  its  anatomy, 
but  also  in  its  physiology ;  and  this  knowledge,  derived  from 
patient  observation  and  careful  analysis,  is  always  an  element 
of  intellectual  power.  The  Great  Teacher  had  a  perfect 
acquaintance  with  mind,  and  when  he  preached,  "  his  word 
was  with  power."  "  He  knew  what  was  in  man,"  and  there- 
'  fore  could  address  others'  thoughts,  as  we  address  their 
words,  so  that  the  concession  was  extorted  from  unexpected 
sources,  "  Never  man  spake  like  this  man."  Knowledge  of 
human  nature  is  power. 

Nor  is  it  less  important  that  the  missionary  should  be  inti- 
mately familiar  with  the  instruments  of  his  service,  which 


296  MISSIONARY   POWER* 

are  nothing  less  and  nothing  else,  than  the  truths  of  divine 
revelation.  He  has  a  specified  message  to  the  guilty  and 
perishing,  and  with  that  message  he  must  be  well  acquainted  ; 
not  only  with  its  cardinal  doctrines,  and  more  important  pre- 
cepts, but  with  its  secondary  principles  and  requirements,  its 
implications  and  influences,  its  extensions  and  limitations. 
The  ability  to  ring  a  hundred  changes  upon  a  few  conse- 
crated phrases  and  favorite  illustrations,  is  an  inferior  attain- 
ment. There  must  be  that  familiarity  with  the  Gospel,  which 
is  obtained  only  by  personal  investigation,  and  which  will 
enable  him  to  exhibit  truth  in  detail  ;  for  it  is  by  descending 
from  generals  to  particulars,  rather  than  by  ascending  from 
particulars  to  generals,  that  the  human  mind  is  best  affected, 
so  as  to  be  impressible  and  persuasible.  The  power  of  the 
Saviour,  as  a  preacher,  resided  very  much  in  his  happy  faci- 
lity at  analysis,  developing  and  spreading  out  truths  in  their 
individuality,  rather  than  in  their  relations  and  dependencies. 
It  was  when  he  opened  the  Scriptures,  and  not  when  he  clas- 
sified and  put  them  under  the  screws  of  systematic  divinity, 
that  the  hearts  of  his  hearers  burned  within  them.  Knowledge 
of  the  Gospel  is  power. 

4.  Correct  Discipline.  This  is  but  the  result  of  all  right 
education.  Hence,  Plato,  when  asked  what  he  meant  by 
education,  replied  by  the  single  wbrd,  "  discipline."  And  a 
greater  than  Plato,  an  intellectual  Goliath  of  our  own  age  and 
country,  has  justly  said,  that  "  a  man  is  not  educated,  until 
he  has  the  ability  to  summon,  in  an  emergency,  all  his  men- 
tal powers  into  vigorous  exercise,  to  effect  a  given  object." 
In  the  author  of  this  sentiment  we  have  an  illustration  of  the 
meaning  of  the  word  discipline,  as  denoting  an  element  of 
intellectual  power.  He  has  acquired  the  mastery  of  his  own 
mind,  and  thus  attained  to  a  supremacy,  next  to  sovereign, 
over  the  minds  of  others.  "  The  greatest  of  all  warriors," 
he  adds,  "  who  went  to  the  siege  of  Troy,  had  not  the  pre- 
eminence because  he  possessed  superlative  strength,  and  car- 
ried the  largest  bow,  but  because  self-discipline  had  taught 
him  to  wield  it."  A  man  of  one  idea,  who  can  apply  it  to  a 
hundred  uses,  is  wiser  and  more  efficient  in  practical  life,  than 
he  whose  head  is  a  warehouse  of  knowledge,  of  which  he 
knows  not  how  to  avail  himself  for  any  useful  purpose. 

If  I  were  solici  ed  to  mention  an  individual,  in  whom  re- 
sided the  intellectual  power  that  is  desirable  in  the  Christian 
missionary,  I  could  furnish  from  the  annals  of  missions  no 


MISSIONARY   POWER.  297 

better  specimen  than  the  apostle  Paul.  He  possessed  native 
talent,  common  sense,  extensive  knowledge,  and  correct  dis- 
cipline ;  and,  in  all  these  respects,  he  was  especially  adapted 
to  the  work  assigned  him.  He  could  suit  his  temper,  his 
manner,  and  his  labor,  to  all  varieties  of  mind,  and  address 
all  classes,  with  a  fitness,  and  propriety,  and  energy,  that 
made  them  feel  and  confess  his  superiority.  Often  was  he 
called  to  grapple  with  men  of  might,  who,  in  disputation,  had 
never  known  defeat,  and  who  looked  upon  him,  as  the  cham- 
pion of  Gath  looked  upon  the  shepherd  of  Judah.  But  sueh 
was  his  power,  as  that  he  never  retired  from  the  conflict  other 
than  a  victor.  His  arguments  swept  through  their  hollow 
sophistries,  like  cannon  shot  among  egg-shells. 

We  shall  not  be  required  to  send  a  very  large  number  of 
men  to  the  heathen.  The  conversion  of  the  Pagan,  and  Mo- 
hammedan, and  nominally  Christian  world,  is  to  be  effected 
mainly  through  the  labor  of  native  preachers.  But  such  as 
we  must  depute,  should  be  strong  men  ;  for  only  such  can 
accomplish  what,  in  the  incipient  stages  of  the  enterprise,  is 
indispensable  to  future  and  enlarged  success.  The  primary 
work,  including  the  translation  of  the  Scriptures,  the  forma- 
tion of  model  churches,  the  commencement  of  trains  of  far- 
reaching  influence,  and  the  imparting  of  correct,  permanent 
impressions,  is  indeed  most  diflicult,  and  involves  responsibi- 
lities of  the  weightiest  character.  For  such  a  service,  the 
ablest  men  are  needed.  The  Saviour  acted  on  this  conviction, 
and  therefore  endued  his  missionary  pioneers  with  special 
power,  that  they  might  commence  the  work  with  vigor,  and 
clear  away  the  most  formidable  obstacles,  and  set  the  whole 
machinery  in  energetic  operation  ;  well  assured,  that  after- 
wards the  enterprise  could  advance  with  an  agency  of  ordin- 
ary ability. 

II.     Moral  Power. 

By  moral  power,  I  understand  the  possession  of  those  mo- 
ral qualities,  which  enable  a  man  to  influence  the  moral 
feelings  and  moral  conduct  of  other  men.  With  this  the 
missionary  to  the  heathen  needs  to  be  largely  supplied  ;  for 
upon  this,  immensely  more  than  upon  intellectual  ability, 
will  his  useful  efficiency  depend.  The  elements  of  this  kind 
of  power  are  so  numerous,  that  I  must  limit  myself  to  a 
selection. 

1.  Personal  holiness.  It  is  to  be  taken  for  granted,  that  he 
who  proposes  to  enter  this  service  is  a  Christian  ;  that  he  has 


298  MISSIONAEY   POWER. 

for  himself,  and  furnishes  to  others,  the  most  satisfactory 
evidence  of  a  spiritual  union  with  the  Saviour.  If  serious 
doubts  exist  upon  this  point,  whether  in  his  own  mind  or  in 
the  minds  of  such  as  he  would  benefit,  his  ability  will  be  es- 
sentially crippled.  No  man  needs,  so  much  as  he,  to  be 
relieved  from  the  fettering  embarrassment  of  unassured  hope. 
Let  him,' therefore,  settle  this  matter  as  the  antecedent  of 
every  other  inquiry,  and  thus  save,  for  the  good  of  the  hea- 
then and  the  glory  of  Christ,  the  time  which  would  otherwise 
be  given  to  the  frequent  reconsideration  of  the  primary  ques- 
tion, "  Am  I  a  Christian  ?  "  He  will  have  enough  to  do  to 
watch  against  temptation,  and  keep  himself  in  the  love  of 
God,  and  so  endure  unto  the  end,  without  the  necessity 
of  inspecting  often  and  minutely  the  validity  of  his  original 
experience. 

But  simple  conversion,  however  clearly  ascertained  as  a 
fact,  does  not  necessarily  invest  an  individual  with  moral 
power.  Eminent  piety  is  essential  to  eminent  usefulness  in 
the  work  of  missions  ;  and  this  necessity  grows  out  of  the 
nature  of  the  enterprise.  Consequently,  we  find  that  those 
who  have  been  the  most  distinguished  for  deep,  consistent 
piety,  have  ordinarily  been  the  most  efficient  laborers. 
Need  I  mention  more  than  the  names  of  Brainerd,  Schwartz, 
Martyn,  Boardman  ?  These  men  were  preeminently  spirit- 
uah  They  walked  with  God,  were  filled  with  his  Spirit, 
dwelt  upon  the  sides  of  eternity,  and  thought,  felt,  spake,  and 
acted  with  reference  to  that  day  which  shall  conclude  time, 
and  commence  the  everlasting  awards  of  heaven  and  hell. 
Thus  breathing  a  heavenly  atmosphere,  and  imbued  with  a 
heavenly  unction,  their  deportment  and  spirit,  as  well  as  their 
teachings,  combined  to  render  them  powerful,  commanding 
for  them  the  respect  of  the  vilest,  and  giving  them  influence 
over  minds,  which  none  of  inferior  holiness  could  ever  have 
moved.  Their  piety  set  them  off  so  far,  in  holy  separation, 
from  an  ungodly  world,  as  that  they  occupied  in  morals  the 
true  Archimedean  position  —  the  nov  gtoj —  from  which  their 
whole  ability  could  be  most  advantageously  applied. 

Holiness  is  power  ;  for  it  gives  unity,  symmetry,  and  com- 
pactness to  character,  combining  in  one  harmonious,  well- 
proportioned  whole,  the  excellences  which  insure  for  their 
possessor  the  confidence  of  mankind,  however  degraded  or 
unprincipled.  It  gives  purity  and  elevation  to  the  motives, 
direction  and  energy  to  the  active  powers,  robustness  and 


MISSIONARY  POWER.  299 

elasticity  to  the  moral  constitution.  It  makes  the  life  con- 
sistent, and  carries  to  every  beholder  the  conviction  of  undis- 
sembled  sincerity,  and,  by  the  consciousness  which  it  begets, 
that  the  heart  and  the  life  are  in  full  sympathy  with  the  call- 
ing, imparts  to  the  mind  a  power  of  projection  that  renders 
influence  far-reaching  and  effective.  "  Which  of  you  convinc- 
eth  me  of  sin  ?  "  was  the  challenge  of  the  holy  Saviour.  His 
energy  was  debilitated  by  no  consciousness  of  discrepancy 
between  his  life  and  his  -doctrine. 

HoUness  is  power ;  for,  by  softening  and  subduing  one's  own 
soul,  it  softens  and  subdues  the  souls  of  others.  Opening  the 
deep  fountains  of  sensibility,  it  sends  forth  a  stream  of  tender 
influence,  before  which  the  heart  of  adamant  yields  and  be- 
comes as  unresisting  as  the  mellowest  of  substances. 

Sach  is  the  godliness  needed  by  the  missionary  —  a  piety 
distinguished  for  substance  rather  than  show,  for  steadiness 
and  uniformity  rather  than  impulse  and  excitement ;  not  like 
the  Geysers  of  Iceland,  heated  by  volcanic  fires,  and  discharg- 
ing in  periodical  jets  the  waters  that  scald  and  excoriate,  but 
like  the  living  stream,  deriving  its  supplies  from  an  exhaust- 
less  reservoir,  pouring  forth  a  noiseless  and  equable  current, 
and  diflfusing,  wherever  it  meanders,  the  richest  and  loveliest 
productiveness.  The  piety  needed,  is  that  which  brings  the 
soul  within  the  circle  that  encloses  heaven's  favorites,  and,  by 
giving  near  access  to  the  throne,  and  familiar  intimacy  with 
him  that  sitteth  thereon,  best  qualifies  for  the  work  of  interces- 
sion. Our  heavenly  Advocate  is  a  prevalent  Pleader,  be- 
cause he  is  "  Jesus  Christ,  the  righteous  ; "  for  within  the 
veil,  as  every  where  else,  holy  character  is  power ;  and  he 
who  resembles  Him  the  most  perfectly  in  moral  qualities,  will 
ever  be  the  most  effective  in  his  pleadings  at  the  footstool  of 
the  great  Hearer  of  prayer.  Like  Jacob,  he  will  have  "  pow- 
er with  God,"  for  "  the  eflfectual  fervent  prayer  of  the  righte- 
ous man  availeth  much." 

The  holy  missionary  is  a  powerful  missionary.  In  his  in- 
tercourse with  men,  in  his  intercourse  with  God,  his  power  is 
felt  and  acknowledged,  and  eternity  only  can  develop  the  ex- 
tent and  the  beneficence  of  its  results. 

2.  Entire  devotedness  to  the  work.  It  is  but  little,  compara- 
tively, that  a  man  can  accomplish  in  any  department,  during 
the  short  life  that  is  allotted  to  him  upon  earth.  But,  ordina- 
rily, he  is  the  most  effective  who  consecrates  himself  to  one 
pursuit,  and  faithfully  identifies  with  it  his  whole  temporal  ex- 


300  MISSIONARY  POWER. 

istence,  and  his  entire  ability.  The  work  of  the  Christian 
missionary  is  surely  large  enough  and  important  enough  to 
justify  the  exclusive  application  of  his  time  and  energies.  So 
the  first  missionaries  viewed  the  subject ;  and  such  was  the 
entireness  of  their  consecration  to  their  grand  enterprise,  as 
that  each  of  them  could  say,  and  say  it  uncontradicted,  "  This 
ONE  thing  I  do"  Ask  them,  ask  their  successors  in  every  age 
who  have  trodden  most  closely  in  their  steps,  the  secret  of 
their  success,  and,  while  they  refer  you  to  the  Holy  Spirit,  as 
the  primary  cause,  they  will  tell  you  that,  secondarily,  their 
efficiency  is  attributable  to  the  singleness  of  their  aim,  the 
unity  of  their  purpose,  the  complete  devotedness  of  their  lives 
to  their  great  object,  counting  every  thing  else,  compared  with 
the  salvation  of  the  heathen,  '*  one  grand  impertinence.** 

He  who  -understands  the  nature  of  the  human  mind,  knows 
that  its  full  energies  are  never  put  forth  unless  its  object  be 
single  as  well  as  great.  He  who  comprehends  the  legitimate 
object  of  the  Christian  missionary,  is  aware  that  it  deserves 
and  must  have  his  undivided  attention,  and  the  intense  appli- 
cation of  all  his  powers.  He  who  is  familiar  with  the  history 
of  the  enterprise,  needs  not  to  be  told  that  those  who  have 
effected  the  greatest  good  in  their  own  age,  and  whose  impres- 
sion upon  posterity  has  been  the  deepest,  were  distinguished 
for  the  simplicity  and  entireness  w^th  which  they  gave  them- 
selves to  the  duties  of  their  vocation.  And  of  the  fifteen  hun- 
dred evangelical  missionaries  now  in  the  field,  who  are  afford- 
ing the  most  conclusive  proofs  of  useful  efficiency  ?  Are  they 
not  the  men  who,  with  the  proper  qualifications,  are  confining 
themselves  to  their  appropriate  work  ? 

Am  I  mistaken,  then,  in  specifying  this  devotedness  as  an 
element  of  power  ?  It  gives  concentration  to  talents  which 
would  otherwise  be  scattered  and  wasted,  and  which  now  pro- 
duce effect,  upon  the  simple  principle  that  combination  is 
strength.  Rays  of  knowledge  are  thus  collected  into  a  focus, 
and  made  to  illuminate  and  burn.  The  faculties  and  affections 
all  move  in  one  direction,  for  the  production  of  a  single  result ; 
and,  moving  together  in  obedience  to  one  common  impulse, 
they  acquire  a  momentum  that  is  not  easily  resisted  ;  and,  dig- 
ging a  channel  for  themselves,  they  leave  permanent  traces, 
by  which  coming  generations  may  know  that  some  agent  of 
extraordinary,  power  has  been  there. 

■'    3.  Deep  sympathy  with  the  object.     In  every  department  of 
I  practical  life,  success  is  dependent,  not  merely  upon  acquaint- 


MISSIONARY   POWER.  801 

ance  with  the  theory  of  one's  business,  but  also  upon  the  spirit 
with  which  the  service  is  undertaken  and  prosecuted.  There 
must  be  interest  as  well  as  understanding,  heart  as  well  as 
hesid,  feeling  as  well  as  action.  If  your  employment  be  agri- 
cultural, or  mercantile,  or  mechanical,  or  political,  or  literary, 
or  scientific,  your  spirit  must  correspond  with  the  nature  of 
the  object,  and  so  deeply  sympathize  with  it,  as  that  you  and 
your  object  shall  seem  to  be  joined  by  a  living  union,  one  and 
inseparable. 

In  every  vocation  it  is  indeed  necessary  that  we  should 
distinctly  perceive  what  is  to  be  done,  and  how  it  is  to  be 
effectuated.  "  \\  isdom  is  profitable  to  direct."  But  it  is 
quite  as  essential  that  we  should  have  warm  sympathy  with 
the  end  to  which  our  efforts  are  to  be  directed.  What  is  it 
that  often  renders  some  one  person  more  effective  than  a  hun- 
dred others  in  modern  enterprises  of  moral  reform  ?  Is  it  ex- 
traordinary genius  ?  Is  it  profound  erudition  ?  We  have  seen 
the  strong  men  of  all  the  learned  professions  stand  up  in  the 
high  places,  and  lecture  with  ability  upon  particular  vices,  and 
with  most  eloquent  pleadings  call  upon  wrong-doers  to  repent, 
and  we  have  seen  them  expend  their  intellectual  energies 
without  effect.  They  reclaimed  not,  for  they  reached  not,  the 
wretched  victims  of  imbruted  appetite.  They  lacked  this  ele- 
ment of  moral  power  —  the  sympathy  that  embraces  the  guilty 
and  ^degraded.  We  have  seen  others  enter  the  service,  in 
whom  this  quality  was  the  presiding  spirit.  Charged  with 
pity  for  the  miserable  outcast,  and  yearning  with  tenderest 
solicitude  for  his  recovery,  they  descend  to  his  low  level,  and 
exhibit  in  his  welfare  an  affectionate  interest,  and  thus  secure 
his  confidence,  until  the  sympathy  becomes  reciprocal,  and  the 
elevation  mutual ;  as  the  humane  sailor  goes  down  for  his 
drowning  ship-mate,  and  feels  after  him  in  the  mud  and  sea- 
weed, until  he  finds  him,  and  then,  seizing  each  other  with  the 
death-grasp,  they  come  up  together. 

This  sympathy  was  one  of  the  elements  of  the  Saviour's 
moral  power.  He  came  to  seek  and  to*  save  the  lost ;  and, 
understanding  perfectly  the  philosophy  of  reform,  he  descend- 
ed, and  placed  himself  alongside  of  the  lowliest  of  the  race,  and 
showed  himself  to  be  really  what  he  was  reproachfully  styled, 
"  a  friend  of  publicans  and  sinners."  And  it  was  by  means  of 
this  condescension,  and  this  tender  interest  in  their  welfare, 
that  he  had  such  power  over  the  multitude*  "  The  common 
people  heard  him  gladly." 
26 


30^  MISSIONARY   POWER. 

Who  are  the  men  that  accomplish  the  most  for  Zion's  en- 
largement ?  Who  but  they  whose  souls  are  interpenetrated 
with  the  spirit  of  their  enterprise  —  they  in  whose  bosoms 
sympathy  with  man's  recovery  and  eternal  life  is  an  all-ab- 
sorbing, all-controlling  passion  ?  You  see  them  at  their  work, 
and  feel  assured  that  they  are  not  performing  a  heartless  ser- 
vice. They  labor  not  coldly  or  mechanically,  but  are  in  de- 
vout earnest,  with  all  the  soul  alive,  thrillingly  sensitive  to 
every  thing  that  bears  upon  their  object,  and  intent  upon  the 
salvation  of  as  many  as  possible.  Read  the  published  sermons 
of  Whitefield,  and  you  see  not  there  the  secret  of  his  wonderful 
efficiency.  From  the  depth  of  his  moral  nature,  there  gushed 
a  spirit  of  which  language  was  never  the  medium  —  a  spirit 
which  not  even  he  could  transfer  to  the  written  or  the  printed 
page  —  a  spirit  which  he  threw,  like  net-work,  over  and  around 
an  audience,  holding  them  as  by  encliantment,  w^hilst  he  em- 
ployed every  faculty  and  affection  in  communicating  to  their 
hearts  the  benevolent  pulsations  of  his  own. 

Yes,  my  brother,  there  is  such  a  thing  as  a  transfusion  of 
that  moral  influence  with  which  the  holy  man  is  endued  by  the 
grace  of  God.  His  sympathy  with  heaven  connects  him  with 
the  upper  Reservoir  of  spiritual  blessings  ;  his  sympathy  with 
man  connects  him  with  the  souls  that  fill  the  circle  of  his  in- 
fluence ;  and  this  double  sympathy  becomes  a  consecrated 
channel  for  the  conveyance  of  the  richest  boon  of  heaven  to 
the  perishing  of  earth.  We  may  not  know  how  it  w^as  that 
the  body  of  the  dead  man,  when  it  touched  the  bones  of  the 
long  buried  prophet,  revived  and  stood  up  animated,  resuming 
lifeV  functions  and  life's  duties.  But  we  do  know,  more  than 
theoretically,  that  dead  souls  are  quickened  by  a  heavenly  in- 
fluence, of  which C  hristian  sympathy  is  the  medium.  Elisha 
sent  his  staff  to  be  laid  upon  the  face  of  the  deceased  child  of 
the  Shunamite,  but  the  expedient  failed.  He  must  go  and 
stretch  himself  upon  the  cold,  pulseless  frame,  —  eyes  to  eyes, 
mouth  to  mouth,  hands  to  hands,  —  and  then  the  flesh  of  the 
lad  waxed  warm,  and  the  prophet  delivered  him  alive  to  his 
mother. 

The  missionary  who  would  be  efficient,  must  have  a  sym- 
pathy as  close  and  all-embracing.  His  object  must  be  to  save 
the  souls  of  the  people  to  whom  he  is  sent,  and,  to  accomplish 
this,  he  must  throw  around  them  his  warm  affections,  and  bring 
his  living  heart  into  contact  with  their  dead  hearts,  and  keep 
it  there  until  they  are  resuscitated  by  the  power  of  the  Holy 


MISSIONARY   POWER.  803 

Spirit,  which  worketh  in  him  and  through  him  mightily.  In 
this  way  millions  of  the  deadest  of  all  beings,  the  dead  in  tres- 
passes and  sins,  have  been  made  alive. 

4.  Strong  faith.  Upon  this  principle,  as  an  element  of 
moral  influence,  the  Saviour,  when  teaching  his  missionaries, 
constantly  insisted ;  and  he  availed  himself  of  every  fitting  oc- 
casion to  summon  it  into  lively  exercise.  If  opportunity  offer- 
ed for  the  relief  of  suffering  by  miracle,  he  proposed  to  them 
the  inquiry,  "  Believe  ye  that  I  am  able  to  do  this?"  When 
his  disciples,  foiled  in  their  attempt  to  expel  a  demon,  asked 
him  to  explain  the  cause  of  their  failure,  he  promptly  replied, 
"  Because  of  your  unbelief."  And  how  strongly  did  he  assure 
them  of  the  wonders  which  they  might  accomplish,  if  they  only 
had  "  faith  as  a  grain  of  mustard  seed."  The  smallest  con- 
ceivable quantity  would  increase  their  power  ;  and  every  addi- 
tion to  their  stock  of  faith,  would  be  so  much  added  to  their 
moral  resources,  until  the  feeble  should  become  as  David,  and 
David  be  endued  with  superhuman  energy.  Was  it  the  lan- 
guage of  hyperbole,  or  of  sober  truth,  when  Jesus  said,  ''  All 
things  are  possible  to  him  that  believeth  ?  "  And  when  he  so 
frequently  said  to  his  candidates  for  missionary  appointment, 
"According  to  your  faith  be  it  unto  you,"  what  did  he  intend 
them  to  understand,  but  that  the  amount  of  their  faith  should 
be  the  measure  of  their  success  ? 

Every  man  is  endowed  by  his  Creator,  with  a  certain 
amount  of  physical  ability,"  a  portion  of  which  is  available  on 
Jill  occasions  that  may  require  it,  while  the  remainder  is  in- 
tended only  for  special  exigencies.  When  circumstances 
demand,  he  can  draw  upon  this  reserved  fund,  and  thus  ac- 
complish what  would  otherwise  be  impracticable.  Let  his 
house  take  fire,  and  he  will  lift  and  bear  away  burdens  with  a 
facility  that  astonishes  himself. 

Much  of  the  mind's  energy  lies  retired,  as  reserved  capital, 
to  be  employed  only  in  extraordinary  emergencies.  Faith  is 
the  principle  that  has  access  to  this  private  fund,  and  whose 
draft  upon  it  is  never  dishonored ;  and,  therefore,  faith  in- 
creases the  available,  if  not  the  actual,  power  of  the  soul.  He 
who  believes  a  thing  can  be  done,  is  generally  the  man  to  do 
it,  for  he  is  under  the  influence  of  a  principle  that  calls  forth 
the  latent  abilit}^,  and  enables  him  to  achieve  results,  which, 
without  faith,  would  be  impracticable.  In  all  the  camp  of 
Saul,  there  was  not  a  veteran  who  could  safely  have  encoun- 
tered the  champion  of  Philistia,  for  not  a  man  of  the  host  had 


304  MISSIONARY   POWER. 

faith  in  God  sufficient  to  brace  up  his  courage  and  nerve  his 
right  arm  for  the  conflict.  Such  faith  was  found  only  in  the 
youthful  shepherd  ;  and  as  he  believed,  so  he  proceeded.  His 
confidence  lifted  him  above  the  fear  of  peril  that  made  the 
sternest  warriors  quake,  and  called  forth  all  his  inward  ener- 
gies to  one  sublime  effort ;  and  the  headless  trunk  of  his  anta- 
gonist soon  lay  stretched  in  the  valley  which  had  rung  with 
his  boastings. 

Sacred  history  is,  to  a  large  extent,  a  record  of  the  achieve- 
ments of  faith.  In  the  eleventh  chapter  of  the  Epistle  to 
the  Hebrews,  we  have  a  summary  and  graphic  sketch  of  the 
cases  mentioned  in  the  inspired  narratives,  which  no  one  can 
read  without  the  conviction  that  the  writer  regarded  faith  as 
an  element  of  power.  He  understood  perfectly  well  that  incre- 
dulity benumbs  and  paralyzes  the  soul,  cutting  its  very  sinews, 
and  laying  it  prostrate,  helpless,  strengthless.  He  also  knew, 
by  what  he  had  seen  and  felt,  that  faith  gives  to  the  mind 
nerve,  elasticity,  steadiness,  and  right  onward  force.  "  This 
is  the  victory  that  overcometh  the  world,  even  your  faith." 

There  is  something  in  the  confidence  that  we  do  not  stand 
alone,  but  are  befriended  and  succored  by  another  and 
mightier,  that  gives  determination  and  vigor  to  the  soul.  A 
Puritan  writer  has  quaintly  said,  that,  "  If  a  man  meet  a  dog 
alone,  the  dog  is  fearful,  though  ever  so  fierce  by  nature  ;  but 
if  the  dog  have  his  master  with  him,  he  will  out  upon  that 
man  from  whom  he  fled  before."  And  hence  he  reasons, 
that  if  lower  natures,  when  backed  by  higher,  increase  in 
courage  and  energy,  certainly  man,  backed  by  Omnipotence, 
is  a  kind  of  omnipotent  creature.  A  timid  child,  in  company 
with  his  father,  so  long  as  he  feels  the  warm  pressure  of  the 
paternal  hand,  will  walk  unanxious  by  night  through  pathless 
forests,  or  on  the  beetling  precipice.  So  the  servant  of  God, 
with  simple  reliance  upon  a  promising  Father,  will  fearlessly 
press  his  way  through  difficulties  and  dangers  the  most  appal- 
ling. Though  called  to  walk  through  the  valley  across  which 
death,  has  thrown  his  gloomiest  shadow,  he  triumphantly 
says,  "  I  will  fear  no  evil,  for  thou  art  with  me." 

In  the  world's  transactions,  faith  is  important  to  efficiency. 
Weaken  it,  and  you  enfeeble  the  springs  of  secular  enter- 
prise. Destroy  it,  and  you  unnerve  the  community.  Quite 
as  indispensable  is  it  in  the  cause  of  missions,  which  is  pre- 
eminently a  "work  of  faith,"  and  of  faith  of  the  highest 
order.     What  could  the  first  preachers  of  Christianity  have 


MISSIONARY   POWER.  305 

accomplished  without  it?  What  but  confidence  in  their 
Master's  promise  and  presence  could  have  given  them  such 
heroic  boldness,  such  indomitable  courage,  such  unfaltering 
perseverance,  such  power  of  endurance  ?  Sustained  by  it, 
they  did  and  suffered  what  impostors  never  could  have  done 
and  suffered.  They  were  *'  men  that  hazarded  their  lives  for 
the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus,"  and  the  assurance,  ever  fresh 
in  their  recollection,  "  Lo,  I  am  with  you  alway,  even  unto 
the  end,"  was  their  unfailing  support.  They  believed  that 
the  world  could  be  and  would  be  converted  to  Christ,  and 
this  faith  rendered  them  bold  and  energetic  as  agents  in  the 
difficult  service.  They  made  no  experiments.  They  pro- 
ceeded not  upon  probabilities,  but  upon  certainties ;  and  confi- 
dence in  the  promises  made  them  strong,  so  that  "  with  great 
power  gave  they  witness,"  and  thrones  trembled,  and  idols 
tumbled,  and  truth  and  holiness  were  welcomed  by  a  subju- 
gated world. 

When  faith  is  really  brought  into  action,  the  magnitude  of 
an  obstacle,  even  were  it  increased  a  hundred  fold,  is  a  mat- 
ter of  little  moment.  "  Difficulties  heaped  upon  difficulties 
can  never  rise  to  the  level  of  the  promise  of  God ; "  and, 
formidable  as  they  may  appear,  the  power  of  faith  brings  in 
the  divine  sufficiency,  and  we  overcome  them  with  ready 
facility.  "  In  the  history  of  the  heroes  of  this  world,"  says 
Dr.  Merle  D'Aubigne,  —  "  of  such  men  as  Charles  XII.,  or 
Napoleon,  — there  is  always  a  critical  moment  which  shapes 
their  career  and  insures  their  future  glory ;  it  is  that  in 
which  a  consciousness  of  their  own  strength  is  suddenly  im- 
parted to  them.  And  a  moment  not  less  decisive  than  this, 
though  stamped  with  an  impress  altogether  different,  is  to  be 
found  in  the  life  of  every  heroic  servant  of  God ;  *—  it  is  that 
moment  in  which  he  first  recognizes  his  absolute  helplessness 
and  nothingness :  then  it  is  that  the  strength  of  God  is  com- 
municated to  him  from  on  high."  *  There  is  a  link  which 
connects  the  impotence  of  the  creature  with  the  omnipotence 
of  Jehovah,  so  that  the  creature  is  encouraged  to  attempt  the 
greatest  things,  while  conscious  of  personal  inability  to  do 
the  least  things.  A  weak  faith  lays  hold  of  a  strong  Christ ; 
and,  lying  low  and  looking  high,  the  believer  declares,  "  when 
I  am  weak,  then  am  I  strong."     Thus  allied  to  the  mighty, 


*  Hist,  of  the  Eeformatiou,  Vol.  ii.  p.  327. 

26* 


306  MISSIONAEY  POWER. 

he  is  endued  with  power ;  and  he  can  meet  unmoved  the 
shock  of  any  trial ;  for,  as  Leighton  well  says,  "  The  firmest 
thing  in  this  lower  world  is  a  believing  soul ; "  and  he  can 
execute  any  service,  however  difficult,  lor  his  faith  enables 
hira  to  feel  and  say,  "  I  can  do  all  things  through  Christ,  who 
strengtheneth  me."  What  can  interfere  with  the  efficiency 
of  him  who  goes  forth  to  publish  salvation,  obeying  his 
Saviour's  command,  trusting  his  Saviour's  promise,  favored 
wdth  his  Saviour's  presence  ?  Intimidated  by  no  opposition, 
discouraged  by  no  perplexities,  he  presses  forward  to  the 
achievement  of  his  purpose,  winning  a  revolted  world  to 
Christ  by  the  attractions  of  the  cross. 

5.  An  affectionate  spirit.  Need  I  multiply  proofs  that 
love  is  power?  What  is  the  efficiency  of  God's  moral  gov- 
ernment, but  the  efficiency  of  love  ?  Wherein  consists  the 
energy  of  the  cross,  if  not  in  the  matchless  love  which  it  de- 
velops ?  What  is  a  Christian  but  a  living  witness  to  the  all- 
subduing  efficacy  of  love,  overcoming,  as  it  has,  the  spirit  of 
rebellion,  reconciling  the  alienated  heart,  reforming  the  way- 
ward conduct,  and  giving  to  the  soul  a  heavenward  tendency? 
And  what  is  the  song  of  the  redeemed  in  glory,  but  a  grateful 
recognition  of  their  indebtedness  to  One  who  loved  them,  and 
proved  the  strength  of  his  love  by  giving  himself  for  them, 
and  washing  them  in  his  blood  —  the  blood  of  Love  ? 

Love  is  the  grand  distinctive  quality  of  the  Christian  sys- 
tem, and  especially  of  its  ministry,  which  is  eminently  the 
"  ministry  of  reconciliation."  And  this  is  the  quality  which, 
above  all  others,  should  pervade  the  tone  of  the  ministry 
both  at  home  and  abroad.  The  cause  of  truth  may  be 
weakened  by  a  false  manifestation  of  its  spirit,  as  well  as  by 
an  inaccurate  exhibition  of  its  principles.  The  temper  of 
the  ministry  is  quite  as  important  as  its  matter;  and  a  primi- 
tive missionary  assures  us,  in  his  own  case,  that  if  he  were  to 
"  speak  with  the  tongues  of  men  and  of  angels,"  yet  without 
love,  his  message  would  be  destitute  of  music,  —  harsh,  disso- 
nant, and  repulsive.  The  heathen  sophists  insisted  upon 
kindness  in  an  orator  as  indispensable  to  success ;  and  one  of 
them  illustrates  the  sentiment  by  reference  to  the  fabulous 
stories  of  Amphion  and  Orpheus,  the  moral  of  which,  he 
thinks,  teaches  the  extraordinary  power  of  the  tender  and  the 
affectionate  over  insensible  and  unyielding  hearts.  Homer 
introduces  his  hoary  Nestor  pleading  in  the  most  gentle,  in- 
sinuating strain,  and  thus  prevailing  where  threats  and  steel 


MISSIONARY  POWER.  807 

were  ineffectual.  We  find  it  true  in  civilized  lands,  and  it  is 
quite  as  true  of  the  barbarous  and  savage,  that  men  do  not 
open  their  hearts  to  the  preacher,  unless  the  tone  of  his  in- 
structions, and  his  whole  manner  have  impressed  them  with 
the  conviction  that  he  sincerely  regards  their  best  interests. 
The  spirit  of  depravity  rouses  itself  to  resist  and  resent  what- 
ever is  harsh  and  denunciatory. 

"  Leviathan  is  not  so  tamed." 

But  where  love  is  the  presiding  spirit  —  love,  that  sympa- 
thizes, on  the  one  hand,  with  the  cross  of  Christ,  and,  on  the 
other,  with  man's  degradation  and  doom,  there  is  power  that 
disarms  prejudice,  conciliates  affection,  and  conquers  the 
heart.  We  wonder  not  at  the  success  of  the  apostle  Paul, 
when  we  read  that  he  ceased  not  to  warn  the  people  "  night 
and  day  with  tears."  We  are  not  surprised  at  the  efficiency 
of  another  man  of  God  who  seldom  addressed  sinners  without 
an  overflow  of  tender  emotion,  and  whom  we  hear  saying, 
"  You  blame  me  for  weeping,  but  how  can  I  help  it,  when 
you  will  not  weep  for  yourselves,  though  your  immortal  souls 
are  upon  the  verge  of  destruction,  and  for  aught  you  know 
you  are  hearing  your  last  sermon,  and  may  never  have 
another  opportunity  to  have  Christ  offered  to  you."  It  has 
been  said  of  another,  that,  when  warning  the  impenitent  of 
their  danger,  and  inviting  them  to  the  gracious  Saviour,  he 
was  often  so  overcome  by  the  gush  of  his  feelings  as  to  bo 
unable  to  proceed  —  a  testimony  far  more  creditable  than  any 
applause  for  originality,  taste  or  genius.  "  I  have  not  wept 
but  once  these  forty  years,"  said  a  veteran  military  officer, 
"  and  that  was  when  I  heard  Jesse  Bushyhead,  the  Cherokee 
preacher,  address  his  countrymen  from  the  parable  of  the 
prodigal  son,  the  tears  flowing  faster  than  he  could  wipe  tliem 
away."  Love  is  the  key  to  the  human  soul,  and  he  wlio 
takes  it  with  him,  may  go  to  any  part  of  the  world,  and  gain 
access  to  hearts,  and  open  the  most  secret  doors,  and  walk  un- 
forbidden through  every  chamber  of  the  moral  nature.  When 
the  infuriated  Seminoles  attacked  a  settlement,  butchering, 
scalping,  burning,  whom  did  they  spare  —  whom  but  a  family 
w^hich  they  recognized  as  the  friends  of  the  red  man,  residing 
there  in  the  self-denying  spirit  and  practice  of  Christian  mis- 
sionaries ? 


308  MISSIONARY   POWER. 

Love  is  power  ;  for  it  renders  the  servant  of  God  gen- 
tle, tender,  earnest,  persuasive.  His  manner  is  winning,  and 
his  spirit  melting.  The  smile  of  heaven  plays  upon  his 
features,  and  the  tones  and  inflexions  of  his  voice  approach 
nearer  to  the  angelic  than  the  human.  More  than  gratuitous 
would  it  be  in  him  to  assure  his  hearers  that  he  loves  them, 
and  desires  their  salvation.  The  fountain  of  tears  unsealed 
and  gushing,  the  quivering  lip,  the  tremulous  voice,  the  heav- 
ing bosom,  are  proofs  which  the  stupidest  pagan  would  interpret 
more  easily  than  a  thousand  professions  and  protestations.  It 
may  sometimes  be  necessary  for  him  to  declare  most  awful 
and  terrific  truths,  but  he  does  it  with  holy  tenderness,  mingling 
no  wrath  of  his  own  with  the  wrath  of  God.  The  meek,  the 
gentle  Redeemer  foretold,  with  all  plainness,  the  doom  of  the 
wicked,  and  pronounced  wo  I  wo  !  wo !  until  he  coujd  utter  it 
no  longer,  and  his  pent-up  compassions  then  burst  forth  like  a 
flood  —  "  O  Jerusalem  !  Jerusalem  I "  Powerful,  irresistible 
is  he  who  is  baptized  into  the  affectionate  spirit  of  Jesus* 
His  words,  bathed  in  his  heart's  sensibility,  soften  whatever 
they  touch,  and  souls,  hard  and  cold  as  the  Alpine  glacier, 
melt  under  their  influence  like  snow  in  a  summer  sun. 

Such,  brethren,  are  some  of  the  elements  of  that  power 
with  which  it  is  desirable  the  Christian  missionary  should  be 
endued.  The  whole  of  these  combined,  in  due  proportion, 
make  up  a  strong  character,  w^hich  wants  little  else  than  a 
physical  frame  of  corresponding  strength,  to  complete  the 
sum  of  missionary  excellence.  Happy  for  the  heathen, 
happy  for  the  interests  of  Christianity,  when  the  missionary 
field  shall  be  supplied  with  laborers  who  possess  the  intellec- 
tual and  moral  power  required  by  so  grand  an  enterprise. 
Some  such  are  already  there,  and  in  the  character  of  their 
labors,  and  the  measure  of  their  efficiency,  we  perceive  not 
only  occasion  for  devout  gratitude  to  God,  but  the  most  valid 
reasons  for  the  prayer  from  the  church  universal  —  Lord, 
multiply  them  a  thousand  fold. 

THE   END|*  UmIV 


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